Hope and Love.......Death and Rebirth
by Newtype Omega
Summary: Lina is alone after the group breaks apart one person at a time and finds the misery too much to bear. Yet when she attempts to end everything, the only person who can make a difference......does.
1. Hope and Love....Death and Rebirth

Hope and Love.......Death and Rebirth   
  
By David Goldsmith   
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers in any way, form, or fashion. I am merely using the characters to write a work of fiction for the enjoyment of others. I make absolutely no money off of this so please don't sue me! Enjoy!   
  
  
  
The woman silently sat by the fire, watching the flames consume the wood and leaves that were currently shriveling up and turning to ash. She fell back onto the ground and let a very long and exhausted sigh pass her lips. Lina Inverse could not recall EVER feeling so depressed in her life. She had just finished visiting Sairaag with Gourry, and Gourry was not currently with her.   
  
Lina had always thought her 'guardian' would stick around until she found someone to spend the rest of her life with.   
  
He obviously hadn't seen Lina's complete disappointment at the fact that she would be alone again. Sylphiel had admitted that she loved Gourry and Gourry had come clean about his feelings for her as well. They both decided that they needed to spend some time together and that meant Gourry was not going to be able to keep traveling.   
  
They had exchanged goodbyes and hugs. She had turned to leave and was about fifty yards away when she turned around to wave, and saw Gourry and Sylphiel openly kissing each other! They didn't see Lina waving at them, and it killed the red-haired sorceress.   
  
"They've already forgotten about me..." She thought sadly.   
  
She had run out of town, not stopping until her legs buckled underneath her and she had the coppery aftertaste of blood in her mouth from her overworked lungs.   
  
She had collapsed near a river and slept for nearly two hours and woke up right at dusk. She had built a fire and started licking her emotional wounds. And she hadn't moved from where she sat even to go after some dinner.   
  
Everyone had left her. Zelgadiss had separated from the group about a year and a half ago, going off in search of another cure that he had heard of. They hadn't seen him or heard of him since he left. Lina had missed him terribly, but she had the others and it was enough to keep her going.   
  
Amelia was next to go. She had yearned to visit her homeland again and upon her return, her father told her that she shouldn't avoid her duties as princess anymore. Amelia then decided to take up her role as crown princess and told everyone to visit anytime.   
  
Lina then only had Gourry to keep her company, and now he was gone. Lina had secretly looked in on Amelia and found her to be very happy to be rid of the red-haired sorceress. Amelia had openly called her a menace to society that hardly deserved the kindness she received seeing as she hardly gave any.   
  
Lina had snuck away without Amelia ever finding out. Gourry had parted rather hastily as well, seeming all too eager to get away from Lina.   
  
Zel had not parted from their group harshly, just said a friendly goodbye and had said he earnestly hoped to meet them again someday. Lina smiled on the thought. Zel seemed to be the only one who wanted to be around her, but his quest had made him take a different path and now he could be anywhere, possibly even dead.   
  
Lina suddenly snapped and broke into tears, realizing that no one wanted her. Sure the Mazuko wanted her to join their ranks, but she still had her dignity and refused them.   
  
She fell into a very restless sleep, dreaming of everyone in the world telling her that she wasn't needed and all she did was bring about trouble. There seemed to be no end to the tears and the heartache that now seized the sorceress.   
  
She had awoken that next morning and set out without knowing where she was going and frankly she could have cared less. She ended up in a mountain range over a hundred miles away sometime that afternoon. She had used Raywing to get up near the summit and was currently engaged in her most difficult internal battle yet.   
  
"Nobody wants me, then why do I go on? Why do I have to suffer? Why me?" She thought. She got up and walked to the edge of a rather tall cliff, and found herself looking down with a longing to feel nothing.   
  
"If I die, what is the world going to lose?" She answered her own question. "A flat-chested, uptight, prissy little girl who has no loyalty to anyone. No one's going to remember me beyond the day when someone finds my body." She thought aloud.   
  
She closed her eyes and spread out her arms, feeling the weight on her shoulders lift with the promise of being free of this misery she was currently engulfed in. "If I just close my eyes and fall, I won't react and cast Raywing to slow my descent, then it'll just hurt for a second or two..." She drifted off as she leaned forward and prepared to meet L-sama herself.   
  
She faintly thought she heard frantic steps coming up behind her, a person literally sprinting at break neck speed, but she knew no one who would try to stop her was there. Just as she was about to topple off the mountain, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back from the brink.   
  
She started flailing like a baby, trying to get back to the side of the cliff, hoping the person couldn't cast Raywing.   
  
"LET GO OF ME!! What are you doing? I don't want this damn life!! I DON'T NEED IT!!"   
  
She continued flailing like a landed fish, but her rescuer's grasp was firm and solid. Lina was about to Mono Bolt the bastard who dared to stop her when the person spoke for the first time.   
  
"Why Lina?"   
  
Her blood froze instantly.   
  
She noticed the voice betrayed a lot of concern and astonishment, which was uncharacteristic of the person who was holding her. She looked down at the arms around her waist for the first time and saw the familiar beige cloak and blue stone skin.   
  
"...Zel.....Zelgadiss....?" She asked hesitantly, fearing that this was all just a dream. Her voice was cracking and she knew it, but she didn't care. Tears flooded her eyes as the response came.   
  
"It's okay now Lina, everything's going to be alright...." Zel trailed off, moving one of his hands gently through her hair to soothe her as she twisted on top of him and clutched his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.   
  
Zel eventually sat up and held Lina as close as he could, whispering into her ears all the while, drawing the pain from her heart and letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere.   
  
  
Zel and Lina had set up camp in the valley after Zel had flown them to ground level, fearing that Lina would try again if she was still at such a high altitude. Lina had been curled into a fetal position for some time now, letting her sobs die away as time passed slowly.   
  
Zel felt his heart wrenching the whole time watching Lina break down in front of him. He had harbored feelings for her for as long as he could remember since joining their little group. No one knew that he ever had. After all, who could he have told? Gourry would have spilled the beans without thinking twice and Amelia would probably murder Lina for stealing HER Zelgadiss's heart! Xellos would use it for blackmail material and Sylphiel would probably have thought it was cute or cared less, seeing as how her heart was set on Gourry.   
  
Zel thought about Filia and decided not to go there, she was a dragon and last he checked, she had never had a crush, let alone been in love.   
  
He had stayed near her the whole time, tending to her as best he could given her current state. "Don't worry Lina, I'm not going anywhere this time. I'm just ashamed that it's taken something this extreme to finally wake me up as to how vulnerable you really are." Zel thought to himself.   
  
Zel settled next to Lina as the sun began to set and he felt Lina automatically clutch his arm and then laid herself on his chest. Zel didn't blush, he knew she was very shaken up and needed time to put herself back together. And if being this close to him helped her recover faster, then far be it from him to deny her such treatment.   
  
  
Two months later......   
  
Lina and Zel walked into an inn and sat down to a huge dinner. Well, Lina sat down to a huge dinner while Zel had numerous cups of coffee and tea along with a few turkey legs to appease Lina.   
  
"She's finally getting back to her old self." Zel thought, a small grin forcing the edges of his mouth upward. Lina hardly noticed since she was busy making the waiter's jaw repeatedly hit the floor.   
  
When Lina had all but cleaned out the inn's kitchen, cellar, and attic of all possible food stores, she tilted the chair back and put her feet on the table and let a pleased sigh drift from her lips. Zel had already given the innkeeper a couple of bags that contained about forty gold coins apiece for the dinner. He pulled out another bag and paid for their rooms for the night.   
  
Zel and Lina got two rooms that were right beside each other. It had taken Lina over a month to be able to sleep by herself again. Zel remembered staying up so many nights to comfort her from the nightmares that seemed to rage out of control almost every night. Lina only seemed to settle down when Zel was laying right beside her, holding her tightly.   
  
He had long since forgotten how to blush since Lina had not objected to his holding her at night since she had almost committed suicide. She almost welcomed it, like she was also hiding her true feelings from the world.   
  
"Could it be possible that.....no, don't think like that Zelgadiss. She could never love a freak like you, just take a close look in the mirror." He thought to himself.   
  
The next morning was pretty much customary to both Lina and Zel. Lina was downstairs trying to rustle up enough grub for a decent sized breakfast when Zel came down and asked for a cup of coffee.   
  
The day's plans were by no means made until a messenger came through the door with a small piece of paper in his hands that looked like a small picture. He glanced around the restaurant before his eyes settled on Lina and Zel, then he proceeded to walk over.   
  
Zel noticed the seal on his bag matched that of Amelia's family, so he let the man approach. Lina must have noticed the same thing, for she also let the man approach without fire-balling him to high heaven.   
  
"You two are Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss?" He asked tactlessly.   
  
"That we are, what business is it of yours?" Zel asked as calmly as usual.   
  
The man reached into his bag and pulled out a rather thin envelope. "I have been assigned to deliver this letter to you from Princess Amelia of Saillune. That is all, I bid you good day." The man was obviously in a hurry to leave, but he was amazingly composed as to every other one of Amelia's servants that trembled from merely seeing the great and powerful Lina Inverse.   
  
Lina took the letter and thanked the man before she brought out her sword and used the tip to break the seal and open the letter. She read it aloud.   
  
Dear Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss,   
  
I have recently heard some good news concerning our old group and I implore that you come to Saillune immediately! I promise that I will explain everything when you get here and I might even throw in a little "compensation" as you so like to call it Miss Lina!   
Hope to see you soon!   
Amelia   
  
Lina handed the letter to Zel, who also read it and looked at Lina. "I guess we're going to Saillune..." Zel trailed off. Lina looked hesitant, but shook it off and got up to go pay the bill so that they could leave. Soon enough, Lina and Zel were on the road headed for Saillune.   
  
Zel and Lina walked through the main gate to Saillune about a week later. The messenger had arrived in only two days, but he was riding a horse, so that was understandable.   
  
Lina looked rather reluctant and hadn't spoken a word since they had entered the city. Zel picked up on this, but decided against saying anything just yet. It wasn't long before they reached the palace gates and were immediately escorted in by the honor guard.   
  
They eventually came to the throne room and saw Amelia sitting in one of the extravagant wooden chairs. To her right was another person that neither Zel nor Lina had seen before, but could probably guess what he was since he was wearing the clothes of royalty and had a ring similar to Amelia's new wedding band on his ring finger.   
  
"Oh, I'm so happy to see you Mr. Zelgadiss and Miss Lina!" Amelia said, running over and hugging them both. "I was beginning to think that messenger I sent out wouldn't find you in time for the weddings!" She explained.   
  
Zel and Lina blinked.....twice.   
  
"You mean you didn't know? Not only am I getting married, but Gourry and Sylphiel are too! Isn't this great!?" Amelia nearly shouted.   
  
Lina twitched a couple of times before she forced a smile and replied. "Sure it is! Wouldn't want to miss it for the world!" She answered.   
  
Zel noticed the twitching as well and decided to talk to Lina about it later when they were alone again. "She just seems so uncomfortable around Amelia these days, did something happen between them while I was away?" Zel thought to himself.   
  
Zel suddenly noticed that Lina's eyes were glazed over and she looked to be a million miles away. He put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. "Are you alright?" He asked.   
  
Lina didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded.   
  
"Amelia, Lina is pretty tired from our trip here, I think it would be for the best if you just showed us to our rooms for the evening." It was more of an order than a request.   
  
Amelia could see the look in Zel's eyes and realized that he was genuinely concerned for Lina. She cringed, knowing this did not bode well for her plan.   
  
"I think you're right Mr. Zelgadiss. Guards, could you please show them to their rooms?" She asked.   
  
The two posted inside the throne room nodded and moved to take Lina from Zel, but he simply put a hand up. "I've got her, just lead the way to her room first." He stated.   
  
Neither guard put up an argument, not wanting to get on the chimera's bad side. Amelia silently fumed.   
  
  
"There you go Lina, just get some rest now." Zel said. Lina nodded and fell onto the bed behind her and almost immediately fell asleep. Zel was hesitant on leaving her alone, but he was not in any position to tell the guards otherwise.   
  
When the others left the room, Lina opened her eyes to reveal wet eyes that were on the verge of spilling an ocean of tears. "Why.....Why is it always me that has to be alone? What did I ever do that was worth punishing me like THIS!?!" She thought. "I'm always alone.......I'll never be happy. Oh, L-sama it hurts so much....." She thought before she closed her eyes again and let an early sleep find her.   
  
  
Zel stood in the royal study, waiting patiently for Amelia. It was the middle of the night and he simply didn't like the feel of the whole situation. Amelia was usually in bed at sundown and didn't get up until the crack of dawn.   
  
Furthermore, she had still had that glimmer in her eyes when she looked at him in the throne room. That glimmer meant that she was probably still nursing a crush on him, and she was probably going to tell him that she loved him. "I'm sorry Amelia, but..." He trailed off in thought as the doors opened to reveal the person in question wearing a frilly nightgown.   
  
"Hello Mr. Zelgadiss, I'm glad that you could meet me so late." She began.   
  
Zel frowned slightly, but remained quiet. Amelia saw that he was clearly waiting for her to get down to business. She walked over to him, and in a brash move only Lina Inverse would normally pull, wrapped her arms around his midsection and buried her face in his chest.   
  
Zel was rather shocked to say the least. "Amelia, what's this all about?" Zel asked.   
  
"It's really simple Mr. Zelgadiss. I like you......I love you. I never want to be apart from you ever again." She said with the most sincerity Zel had ever heard in her voice.   
  
He shook his head. "Amelia..." He trailed off. He slowly forced her away from him and looked her in the eye. "I didn't mean to mislead you into thinking that what we shared was love. I thought of you as the little sister I never had and I still think of you that way. There can never be anything between us besides that......I'm sorry."   
  
Amelia collapsed to her knees. Her eyes were tearing up as Zelgadiss stood before her.   
  
"Who......if not me then who......who holds your heart?" She asked, voice cracking.   
  
"I'm not sure about that anymore, but I'll let you know when I figure that out for myself." He replied.   
  
Amelia's head shot upward as Zel walked towards the door. "IT'S LINA, ISN'T IT?!?" She shouted, not caring who she woke up.   
  
Zel stopped, knowing that he was more than a little cornered. "She needs to know the truth..." He turned and came back to her.   
  
"When I was passing through the mountains west of here, I found Lina. She was in the process of leaping off the side of the mountain without any intentions of using Raywing." He started.   
  
Amelia gasped. "That would explain why she's been acting so strange..." Amelia thought aloud. Silent fears slowly came back to haunt her.   
  
"Yes, and for the past few months I've been looking after her as best I can." Zel continued. He took a deep breath, knowing this next part would be the toughest.   
  
"You were right when you said that she held my heart. I do love her, more than life itself. She was the one person who seemed to forget that I wasn't human time after time." Amelia cringed, knowing that she had judged him on his appearance on more than one occasion.   
  
"She was full of life and seemed invulnerable. She also brought me back from the brink of insanity. Now she is the one in need of help, and I simply can't bring myself to leave her nor can I tell her of my feelings. I'm still the monster that I was when we met, how can she ever love someone as hideous, repulsive, and freakish as I am? Despite all that I feel, I'll condemn myself to the bowels of all nine hells before I leave her again." He concluded.   
  
Amelia finally understood. She finally knew why Zel had been so obsessed with finding a cure. To him, finding a cure would mean a chance at happiness, something he had never experienced. Then Lina being Lina came along and presented him the chance without the cure. Zel didn't know what to do.   
  
"Mr. Zelgadiss, I think that you are wrong. You aren't a monster or a cold-blooded man of any kind. I know you have a heart strong enough to move mountains, otherwise how could I have fallen in love with you? You're selling yourself for a piece of silver when you are worth triple your weight in gold." Amelia trailed off.   
  
Zel grinned at Amelia and rustled her hair a bit. "Thanks little sister." He said.   
  
Amelia, through tears, replied. "Don't mention it big brother."   
  
  
Zel walked through the halls of the palace towards Lina's room to see how she was doing. He eventually reached the room and crept in, afraid to wake Lina up.   
  
What he found was absolutely stunning. Lina was huddled up into a fetal position and was sobbing again. He came over and watched her writhe and tremble for a few minutes before he moved onto the bed and held her in his arms.   
  
She immediately reacted to his touch and clung to him like a drowning person clings to a life raft. Whispers from Lina's lips made their way to Zel's ears. "Zel.......please don't leave me like everyone else.........I don't want to be alone anymore..." She trailed off.   
  
Zel simply held her tighter and soothed her with his soft whispers and light humming throughout the night. "Lina, I promise you this, I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave even if my life depended on it." He whispered softly in her ear. Lina turned over and buried her head in his chest.   
  
Zel looked at her in the dim moonlight. She seemed so small and vulnerable that it was like a completely different person from the Lina Inverse that he knew and loved. "I do love her, but what if she doesn't.........I don't think I could put myself back together if she didn't..." He trailed off.   
  
They slept in each other's arms for the rest of the night.   
  
  
The next day was definitely an improvement on the situation. Amelia had confronted Zel and told him that her fiancée completely understood her situation from previous experience and they had developed a tight bond in mere hours.   
  
Zel was pleased that Amelia was taking his rejection so well. "Yet I'm sure it's easier for her because she has someone she knows will stay by her side for the rest of her life. Lina doesn't have that, although I admit I would be more than happy to have the job." He thought to himself, silently berating his lack of restraint once more.   
  
Lina was still down in the dumps and needed something to lift her spirits. An idea seemed to leap into Zel's mind as he went searching for Lina. He finally found her in the garden near the only fountain within the royal palace.   
  
He approached carefully and noticed that again, Lina had that same faraway look in her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and allowed a smug grin to make its way to the surface. Lina returned it with a shy smile of her own.   
  
"I want to show you something." Zel began. "Ok, where is it?" She asked. "It's not in Saillune, in fact it's about two weeks away. The way I figure it, the weddings don't start for another six weeks or so. We travel there in back in roughly a month and we still manage to make it to the weddings. You look like you're positively stir-crazy anyway, so getting out will do you some good.   
  
Lina strangely didn't argue with Zel and after a brief explanation to Amelia and some quick packing, Lina and Zel hit the road towards the western mountain range in the distance.   
  
  
Two weeks later.......   
  
"Are we there yet Zel?" Lina asked.   
  
"Almost, we should make it just in time for sunset." He stated. The two had only come across one group of bandits, but these bandits were the persistent kind that rarely gave up once you got them going.   
  
Lina and Zel had been climbing up a rather steep trail for the past four hours or so, but they were in excellent shape so it was merely a walk in the park. Zel suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail and took out a small scrap of cloth.   
  
"You're blindfolding me?" Lina asked sarcastically.   
  
"Uh huh." Zel replied, a grin threatening to break out on his face.   
  
"Okay, I'll play along." She replied and allowed Zel to tie the blindfold. Lina held onto Zel's shoulders for the remainder of five minutes before Zel turned her away from him and slowly removed the blindfold.   
  
Before her was a small clearing that was fairly shaded by the tall trees. They were at the base of a vertical cliff that was a couple of hundred feet high. A waterfall cascaded over the edge of the cliff and formed a pool that was quite large enough to be a very oversized swimming pool, but not nearly large enough to be called a lake. At the base of the waterfall and within about twenty feet of the pool was a well-established fire ring next to a worn patch of grass under a tree. The whole area exuded an aura of peace and contentment.   
  
Lina found herself gaping at the waterfall scatter the light as the sunset was reflected off of the falling water. "I have never seen any place this beautiful in my entire life." Lina replied in a small whisper.   
  
"I found it a number of years ago on one of my searches for a cure. I haven't brought anyone here nor have I told anyone else about it, before now that is." He explained.   
  
Lina turned and face Zel, her eyes sparkling for the first time in weeks. "I'm honored that you would choose me to share this with." Lina answered.   
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zel whispered almost too low for Lina to hear, but she barely caught it. She lost her ability to speak for several seconds before realizing she was still hugging Zel.   
  
They eventually separated and walked over to Zel's small camp site and sat down to rest for a few days before they had to head back to Saillune for the weddings. Zel and Lina spent the night chatting over a fire and a batch of cooked fish that the pool had handily supplied from above on the upper cliff surface.   
  
  
Three weeks later.......   
  
Amelia sat in her study with her fiancée, cuddling up closer to his chest when a servant suddenly burst through the door.   
  
"YOUR MAJESTY! The Chimera friend of yours and the red-haired sorceress have returned and the Chimera is seriously injured!" He shouted.   
  
Amelia felt her blood run cold and she raced after the guard to the palace infirmary.   
  
She rushed in to find Lina staring at her blood stained hands, tears falling from her eyes as the numerous mages cast several healings spells on Zel's apparently lifeless body. Amelia saw that Zel's chest was gently rising and falling, the only visible sign that he was still holding on by the barest of threads and shear will power.   
  
Amelia found herself shaking Lina frantically and yelling at her. "WHAT HAPPENED MISS LINA?? TELL ME!!" She sternly shouted.   
  
Lina was in a daze for a moment longer before Amelia's fiancée restrained her so Lina could try to explain what had happened. The group remained until they were certain that Zel was stable.   
  
The mages assured them that he was going to live. He just needed rest after the ordeal he had been through, whatever that had been. They all agreed that they couldn't determined how he had lived through his numerous injuries for more than a few hours. Lina led Amelia, her fiancée, and Amelia's father into another chamber and started to explain.......   
  
"It all started about two and a half weeks ago when we were returning to Saillune. This group of bandits we had repeatedly beat up tracked us out of the mountains and followed us wherever we went. They had repeatedly attacked us with the regular array of tactics; run in and try your best to slash up the enemy. Then when we were about two days from the palace, they attacked us with a few additions to their crew. Two of their men carried enchanted swords and they had two other mages with them that could use the dark magic. We quickly knocked out all but those four. Zel took the two with swords while I battled it out with the mages. It took all that we had to defeat our respective opponents. I don't really recall all of the fight. The two swordsmen were starting to wear down Zel and then they scored a rather large hit across his chest and back, making him drop to the ground and then he was out cold from the shock. The last thing I remember was charging towards the two swordsmen, and then I blacked out. When I finally came to, I found all of the bandits literally ripped apart. The four who challenged me and Zel were the worst. I don't know what happened to them, but I do know that they experienced very painful deaths. I found Zel had come around and managed to stop most of the bleeding from his wounds. From there I carried and dragged his ass back to Saillune without any more trouble from anyone. I assume from that fact that all of those bandits were dead. And you know what happened when we arrived....." Lina explained.   
  
Everyone in the room was baffled to say the least. Yet Lina was exhausted and at the point of collapse, so they simply showed her to the room Zel was in and let her fall asleep.   
  
  
Two days later......   
  
"Zel, why did you have to throw yourself in front of that blast?" She thought.   
  
Although she had primarily told the truth to the others, she had left out the part about Zel jumping in and taking a huge hit for her. That hit had weakened him to the point where the other swordsmen had managed to land those two major hits on his chest and back.   
  
She had gone ballistic after that. She had come to enjoy Zel's company, maybe even care about him more than any friend would.   
  
She had quickly denied herself of finishing such a thought on the assumption that..."He could never like....love....someone like me! I'm just not the one to deserve his affection, let alone his love..."   
  
She remembered losing control of her powers, then she blacked out, or at least her mind did. It had only happened once before, which was why she feared ever losing control again.   
  
She had leveled a town full of people at the tender age of three after her parents had been murdered. She had lost control then, and she did it again. Only now she was easily fifty times as powerful as she had been at three years of age.   
  
She never remembered what had happened during those few minutes of absolute horror for any bystander, but she had heard enough from her big sister to start training in the arts of magic in order to control her power.   
  
She found herself back in the present after the trip down memory lane. She looked at Zel's still form and suddenly broke into tears. She was losing everyone around her, and she was the sole cause of it. She continued to sob as she thought of how Zel must hate her for making him get injured for her sake.   
  
Zel slowly became aware that he felt lousy. "That's good, means I'm alive."   
  
He thought. Struggling about three times, he finally managed to open his eyes, only to see that the woman he loved was crying again. "....Lina..." He started.   
  
The red head gasped as her head shot up to look into his sapphire eyes. Zel's eyes locked with a pair of shining rubies that were glistening with tears. Lina leapt onto Zel's chest and just stayed there.   
  
Zel sat up and brought Lina into a genuine hug. Lina was seated on his lap with her legs on either side of his, effectively keeping his legs together as she simply broke down as she hugged Zel as she had so many times in the past months.   
  
Lina suddenly realized that he was her sole reason for living now and to lose him would be to lose any and every reason to live. She was truly afraid of what Zel would say next.   
  
She didn't have to wait long for the answer to her unspoken question.   
  
"Lina......what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" He asked in a voice that was only a whisper.   
  
Lina was trembling, fighting the biggest internal struggle since she had tried to kill yourself. It was good ten minutes before Lina was composed enough to speak, but Zel had the patience of Job and hardly seemed to be in any hurry.   
  
Lina slowly looked up into Zel's eyes, looking for something, anything, to hold onto. What she saw was glimmering hope and lots of confusion. "Could he be as confused as I am about this? Could he actually care about me?" Lina thought to herself.   
  
Lina's tears didn't stop as she buried her head in his chest again. Her voice came in choking sobs, but she knew she had to say what was in her heart or she would never be at peace with herself.   
  
"I thought that I would lose you, the only person I have left who actually cares about me. I thought that you would leave me after you woke up and I would never see you again. I thought that I would never get a chance to tell you what I feel..." She trailed off.   
  
Zel's only reaction was to hold her tighter, silently encouraging her to continue.   
  
".....I.....I love you Zelgadiss Greywords. I know that if you were to leave me, I wouldn't have anything left to live for, I wouldn't..."   
  
She was halted in her ranting by a warm stone finger on her soft lips. When she looked into those sapphire orbs once again, she saw none of the earlier confusion. She only saw an endless sea of devotion and.....love?   
  
"I've wanted to say the exact same thing for a long time now Lina. I am such a coward for not doing it sooner. I love you Lina Inverse......more than you will ever know. You gave me a chance at life even without a cure for my body because you didn't care what I looked like. I honestly didn't think you could love someone like me...." Zel trailed off as Lina looked into his eyes with a stern look before her gaze melted into one of pure affection and their lips met.   
  
Electricity surged between the two as their lips practically seared together. The kiss continued on for what seemed like hours, yet when they separated, it was easy to tell that the sun was only a little lower in the sky.   
  
Relief flooded through their two souls as their doubts were replaced with genuine love. The two finally had to break for air and found themselves gasping for much needed oxygen. Their eyes remained locked as untold dams began to rupture and finally broke, releasing all of their pent up emotions.   
  
They met each other half-way as their emotions surged to the surface. Zel and Lina started to disrobe each other as they slowly realized that this was no dream, but was indeed sweet, blissful reality.   
  
  
Lina slowly peeled her eyes open to gaze upon the midday sun from her position in bed. She turned over to come face to face with her lover. She snuggled up closer to him and felt his arms encircle her once again. "Zel.....about last night.....thank you." Lina started. "Words can't even begin to describe how special that was." She finished.   
  
Zel smiled, gently caressing Lina's face.   
  
"Is this one of the reasons you train so hard? To have stamina when you need it most?" Lina asked, grinning wolfishly.   
  
Zel, for the first time in months, blushed a rather deep shade of red despite the color of his skin. The fingers on Zel's left hand intertwined with Lina's right as they continued to simply enjoy the presence of each other.   
  
"Everything's different now, isn't it Zel?" Lina asked.   
  
"Yes, now we have each other to share our lives with. We won't be alone anymore and we don't have to dwell on the past either." He explained.   
  
Lina got up and went to the window, despite the fact she was nude. She had only been staring out the window for a few moments when Zel came up from behind her and wrapped a sheet from the bed around the two of them, and they looked out at the world together.   
  
"Going to those weddings now won't be as difficult as I thought it would be my love." Lina started.   
  
"I was thinking that we should try to have one of our own rather than focus on someone else's..." Zel trailed off.   
  
"Is that your way of asking me to marry you?" Lina asked.   
  
"No, I had something else in mind." Zel replied.   
  
"Oh, do tell oh man of mine." Lina giggled s she said it. She suddenly stopped giggling as Zel slipped a ring on her left hand.   
  
"Would you care to wear this with me for a while?" He asked.   
  
"About how long were you thinking?" Lina asked, on the verge of stuttering.   
  
"I'm not sure, perhaps a couple of centuries. Give or take a millennia or two." Zel answered.   
  
Lina's eyes began to tear up again. "That's much better...." She trailed off. "...and I've have to be crazy to say anything but yes." She softly replied as Zel wrapped the sheet around them tighter.   
  
"Want to celebrate a bit more lover?" Lina grinned mischievously.   
  
"And you said men had a one track mind..." Zel answered as Lina practically threw him onto the bed, with her leaping after him cackling like a mad scientist.   
  
  
Epilogue   
  
  
Twenty Years Later........   
  
"CHEERS!" The group shouted.   
  
The four couples had gathered at Amelia's palace to celebrate two great achievements as well as numerous smaller ones.   
  
The first great achievement being that Lina had defeated Xellos in battle and thus won his freedom from the Mazuko race. The second great achievement was that Xellos had finally, after five long years, asked Filia to marry him. The dragon priestess had no trouble saying yes because of the fact that Xellos had been released from his bonds to the Mazuko and the relationship that had bloomed between them over the past years.   
  
Sylphiel and Gourry were somewhat busy trying to contain their four children as best they could. Sylphiel was lecturing the six and four year old boys on why they shouldn't make crude comments and hide under a lady's dress. (Filia had promptly fainted over that one.)   
  
Gourry was busy running down his two older trouble makers. The twelve year old boy and ten year old girl had been hanging around their "Uncle Xellos" for too long. When there was a degree of peace among the group again. Amelia stood up.   
  
"I know that you've all been wondering why my husband and I have been so eager to talk to everyone, so we'll keep you waiting no longer. We're going to be having another addition to the family!" She explained. Zel nodded in approval, remembering how responsible Amelia had been with their first little girl.   
  
Their "little" girl was by no means that at the age of fourteen and already showing the Saillune family 'attributes' that Lina was so jealous of for years on end before she had physically aged another four years and "filled out" nicely. Not that Zel had EVER complained.   
  
Zel still hadn't found a cure, but he knew that he no longer needed one. He and Lina traveled around the world on orders from L-sama herself. Lina was by no means knight material, for L-sama's knights can never have been introduced to the other dark arts of magic.   
  
Instead, L-sama had 'hired' the two to traverse the world and correct what her knights could technically never interfere with. It was a pretty good arrangement.   
  
Neither Lina or Zel had ever wanted to settle down. It was simply their nature to continue going forward into the unexplored world while others settled down and lived lives that were more to their liking.   
  
Lina and Zel couldn't have been happier. Zel had noticed that Lina was grinning more than was usual even for HER, and that was starting to worry even Zel. Fortunately Xellos, of all people, bailed him out.   
  
"Lina-san, you seem to be a little perkier than usual, what's the occasion?" He asked rather bluntly, earning a heavy clubbing from Filia's mace.   
  
Lina just set her glass down and continued acting all cheery, smiling and placing a look on her face that shouted, "I know something you don't!"   
  
Zel eyed her cautiously before Lina turned to Xellos. "Hey Xel, technically speaking, is it possible for a user of black magic to bear children?" She asked.   
  
Zel simply froze while Xellos put his chin in his palm and contemplated silently.   
  
"Technically speaking Lina-san, all the negative energy that a black magic user puts off nullifies any attempts for that person in particular, if it's a woman, to bear children. I know for a fact that you've been using black magic almost daily for the past twenty years, so I think you're pretty much exempt from the kid business. Why do you ask? Certainly you of all people would know that." Xel replied.   
  
"Well, I know how you all just love being the God parents of each other's children. So I felt obligated to bring this up in front of everyone." She continued.   
  
Zel's eyes were getting larger by the second at the direction Lina was headed and it took all of his restraint not to jump up and hug her to death.   
  
"You know I've never been one to actually think anything is impossible. So call the record books people! Me and Zel are gonna be parents!" Lina shouted.   
  
Smiles spread like wildfire as Zel literally threw Lina into the air and laughed in front of others for the first time in years.   
  
"When did you find out about your children?" Amelia asked.   
  
"She came to me a week ago with symptoms like morning sickness among other things and when I did an exam, I discovered that Lina was indeed pregnant." Sylphiel spoke up.   
  
"Why didn't I know about this?" Gourry complained.   
  
"You were on that fishing trip with the children if I remember correctly." She explained.   
  
"Oh Yeah!" Gourry echoed.   
  
  
The group continued the party well into the night, speaking of times that only Lina and Zel experienced anymore in daily life. Everyone enjoyed themselves, knowing that everyone was changing. That is, except for Lina and Zel. For all practical purposes, they were going to live for centuries, possibly even a few thousand years.   
  
Lina's black magic kept her relatively young and Zel's Golem and Demon parts kept him at about the same age as he was when he was turned into a chimera. They cuddled in each other's arms for the rest of the night, knowing that no matter what happened, they were going to be together for as long as both of them lived.   
  
  
Ten months later........   
  
"TWINS!??!?" Zel shouted, not believing what the midwife was saying.   
  
"Yeah, that's what I said, so get over it!" She shouted as Lina started round two.   
  
Zel thanked L-sama that he hadn't found a cure, because right now the only thing that kept his hands from breaking was the fact that they were made out of stone.   
  
After another thirty minutes of screaming, Zel looked at his two children with satisfaction and pride. Lina was still asleep after her ordeal. Zel looked down at his son and daughter.   
  
His son had lavender hair and the bluest of eyes, with little pebbles embedded on his skin around his joints. His elbows and knees were covered and he grinned.   
  
"No skinned knees and elbows for you young man, you lucky dog." He thought to himself.   
  
His daughter had her mother's fire red hair, but her eyes were an emerald green instead of fire red. The girl didn't have a single stone on her body, which was very relieving to Zel.   
  
Even though their skin wasn't stone, it was still incredibly dense. They could possibly block a sword strike with their bare hands if they were careful, but that remained to be seen. Both of them had somewhat pale blue skin, but in the sunlight, it wouldn't make much difference. His son was a little stronger than any normal baby, but nothing else indicated that his chimera traits had been passed to his children.   
  
"We'll have to wait and see about the other parts." He thought aloud. "   
  
My mother's eyes were green you know...." Lina suddenly spoke from the bed. Zel walked back over and sat beside his wife.   
  
"I didn't know that..." He replied gently.   
  
"I'm proud of you Lina." He whispered in her ear.   
  
"I know." She whispered back. "Now we have a family of our own my love. We can give them everything that we didn't have. They'll grow up strong and surrounded by love, even if the rest of the world doesn't approve of them. These are our children Zel, and they deserve the best life we can offer them." Lina explained.   
  
The short silence was promptly ended by Lina.   
  
"What do you want to call them?" She continued.   
  
"You name the boy, I'll name the girl." He replied.   
  
"Fair enough. Alright then you little tiger, what do you want to be called?" She cooed sweetly to the newborn. The baby looked at her with wonderment in his eyes at the bright smile that his mother was giving him.   
  
"I hereby name you Ryo......Ryo Greywords." Lina said in her best impression of a formal voice.   
  
Zel had been taking a good look at his daughter and the girl also looked at him in amazement.   
  
"And you will be Katherine Greywords my little angel." Zel continued.   
  
"Ryo and Katherine....good names." Lina continued. Zel and Lina sat together on the bed, taking in the sight of their new family.   
  
"I love you Lina." Zel said.   
  
"And I love you Zel." Lina replied.   
  
The two new parents looked at each other and they knew that when Lina was able to get back on her feet, they would hit the road once more on the next part of their adventure with their kids in tow. Of course it would be dangerous, but Lina and Zel both knew that they wouldn't want it any other way.   
  
The two of them had finally found the family that they had both always wanted, and it would be a cold day in hell before they allowed anything to happen to any person in their family. The four of them fell asleep and that night, even the babies dreamed of great adventures to come with their loving parents for the rest of time.   
  
  
Author's notes: Okay, I just had to write another one! Lina/Zel is my favorite Slayers couple! Please review and tell me if I should do more couplings and with which couples! (Just mention the series they are in as well and I'll try to accommodate all requests. Once again, PLEASE REVIEW! I have a few more chapters planned after this one, so stay tuned! Until my next story faithful readers!   
  
E-mail me at: alex_001@hotmail.com I like feedback! Please let me know if you like the story!


	2. Music of my Heart

The Music of My Heart  
By David Goldsmith   
  
Edited by Sakura Yuki  
  
An interlude from "Hope and Love......Death and Rebirth"   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, N'Sync, Gloria Estefan material in any way form or fashion. I am simply using a song and characters from a popular anime series to write a songfic that I hope all will enjoy. Leave a review if you like the story, leave one if you don't, but feedback is always welcome! The songfic part won't come for a little while, so be patient and enjoy!   
  
-Previously on "Hope and Love......Death and Rebirth":   
  
"Would you care to wear this with me for a while?" He asked.   
  
"About how long were you thinking?" Lina asked, on the verge of stuttering.   
  
"I'm not sure, perhaps a couple of centuries. Give or take a millennia or two." Zel answered.   
  
Lina's eyes began to tear up again. "That's much better...." She trailed off. "...and I've have to be crazy to say anything but yes." She softly replied as Zel wrapped the sheet around them tighter.   
  
"Want to celebrate a bit more lover?" Lina grinned mischievously.   
  
"And you said men had a one track mind..." Zel answered as Lina practically threw him onto the bed, with her leaping after him cackling like a mad scientist.   
  
Now, what exactly happened after that?   
Here lies the story of how two souls were joined for eternity......   
  
Zel awoke, for the second time, in the same bed as Lina. He could definitely get used to waking up like this every morning for the rest of his life. Be it in a bed in a castle or on a bedroll in the middle of nowhere beside a small campfire, it was something he had already started to appreciate. Lina stirred and he wrapped his arms around her midsection, holding her snugly against his warm stone body. Zel could almost swear he heard Lina start to purr from the position they were in. The red-haired sorceress slowly found her way into consciousness and also found herself in the arms of the man she loved.   
  
"It's pretty late Zel..." She started.   
  
Suddenly, Lina's anatomy caught up with her and a loud rumble could be heard under the sheets. Lina blushed heavily, realizing she hadn't eaten anything in roughly twenty-four hours.   
  
Zel chuckled lightly. "I suppose we both know what we do next..." He trailed off as he pulled the covers back and started to get dressed. Lina followed suit and soon the new couple were on their way to the kitchen for a late dinner.   
  
The kitchen staff was apparently finished for the night, since Lina and Zel couldn't find anyone who would be of any assistance.   
  
"Looks like we're on our own for dinner lover." Lina stated.   
  
Zel began searching the numerous cupboards for utensils that they could make use of while Lina raided the cellar and the pantry. Within another hour, the two sat down to a meal that could probably have satisfied Lina, at least until breakfast that is. The two ate in relative silence, no words being needed. Zel, for a change, was actually eating a few vegetables along with half of a turkey!   
  
When they were finished, neither was very tired and they decided to spend the remainder of the night in the study. There weren't any guards to stop them, so they just went right in. The couple sat down on the couch, with Lina more or less lying on top of Zel as they simply reveled at being with each other.   
  
"You really are something else Zel." Lina started.   
  
"I was going to say the same thing about you Lina." Zel replied.   
Lina flipped over and laid her head on Zel's chest, content on listening to the Chimera's steady heartbeat.   
  
"When do you want to tell the others?" Zel asked calmly.   
  
"How about at breakfast?" Lina inquired cheerfully.   
  
Zel shook his head with a grin on his face. "Everything's got to be food-oriented with you, doesn't it?" He asked.   
  
Lina gave him one of her trademark grins and nodded. Zel had to admit, Lina looked absolutely cute when she tried. She could be pouncing on you or yelling enough obscenities to make an ogre blush, but she would still look adorable.   
  
"You truly are one-of-a-kind Lina Inverse." Zel thought aloud.   
  
"Well so are you Zelgadiss Greywords, I'm just glad we're on the same page now." She continued and lifted her head to stare into his sapphire eyes. Her chin propped on his chest and her eyes twinkling, Zel could do nothing but look at those ruby eyes that seemed to never end. A man could completely lose himself in them if he wasn't careful. Zel and Lina bowed their heads again at the same time, their bond already clearly evident to any observer. They eventually fell into a small catnap until dawn.   
  
Amelia was truly getting worried. Neither Lina nor Zelgadiss had emerged from their room in the past thirty-six hours. Amelia knew that she wouldn't have to wait much longer, knowing that Lina's eating habits were sure to catch up with her soon enough.   
  
She calmly walked into her study and was utterly shocked to find the objects of her search quietly napping together. Amelia smiled slightly and went towards them. It was almost breakfast and she hated to think of what Lina would do if she ever figured out that Amelia had intentionally left her out of a meal! She approached carefully and gently nudged the two, speaking gently when her fiancée walked through the door.   
  
"Hey hon, what's up?" He said a little too loudly for Amelia's immediate tastes. She cringed, knowing that Zel was going to wake at that. Her fiancé, a man who was known as Sanjuro, caught on to what she was trying to do and slapped a hand over his mouth. Amelia noticed this and inwardly smiled at his observant nature. He would probably use that to his advantage......later. Amelia blushed as her thoughts went in a very......un-ladylike direction. Amelia noticed Zel was indeed awake and nudging Lina back into consciousness.   
  
"I'm sorry to disturb you two, but I thought you would want to know that breakfast is almost ready." Amelia announced. All trace of sleep and rest fled from Lina's mind and her facial expressions in an instant and the last thing Amelia and Sanjuro saw was a red blur dragging a blue one behind it. Sanjuro sweat-dropped and looked back to his fiancé.   
  
"Is she always like this?" He asked tactlessly.   
  
"Sometimes worse..." She admitted.   
  
"Enemy to all who live, huh? Don't they mean 'Enemy to anything edible'?" Sanjuro continued. Amelia couldn't help but giggle in response.   
  
Lina was surprisingly slow at breakfast, meaning she ate slowly. Zel was amazed at how much her pace had slowed from normal. Everyone let her be though, if she wanted to start acting like she had some table manners, who were they to argue? When she finished, it was quite evident that the kitchen was a little more spacious from her efforts.   
  
Amelia, Sanjuro, Zel, and Lina continued to chat about the upcoming weddings and other related topics. Amelia suddenly steered off her topic of her search for a wedding dress to look at Lina and Zel.   
  
"I just received word from Gourry and Sylphiel that they'll arrive in a few days, just in time to start the final plans." She stated.   
Lina and Zel simply glanced at each other and then nodded in Amelia's direction.   
  
Amelia suddenly felt the veins pop out on her head. "What's up with you two!? You've been quiet all morning! It's starting to DISTURB ME!!!" She shouted.   
  
Zel and Lina sweat-dropped, realizing that they were cornered.   
Since they were sitting right beside each other, it was a simple matter for them to grasp each other's hands and look Amelia dead in the eye. Lina broke the silence.   
  
"Zel asked me to marry him last night and I said 'yes'." Lina replied in a calm tone. Amelia's jaw immediately detached and hit the table. Phil simply smiled at the two of them, expressing his approval.   
  
Sanjuro also smiled, seeing how happy they were together. "I'm also glad that Amelia's stopped obsessing over that guy, at least now she looks at me." He thought to himself.   
  
Amelia composed herself and sat back down. "Wow! That was certainly unexpected. I thought Mr. Zelgadiss would EVENTUALLY pop the question, but I never thought it would be this SOON!" Amelia declared in astonishment.   
  
Zel and Lina simply looked at each other and touched noses, snickering at the tickling sensations running through them both at that very moment. Amelia couldn't help but smile and glance to Sanjuro, who returned the smile. Amelia reached for his hand under the table and laced her fingers through his. Sanjuro was certainly pleased with this turn of events, but he was content to take things slowly for Amelia's sake. She really had calmed down since Zel had talked with her. She didn't rant about justice as much because she no longer had anyone to impress. She seemed to have matured overnight from the bubbly teenager into a knowledgeable young woman. Sanjuro and Amelia simply gazed into each other's eyes, their gaze radiating trust and understanding between them.   
  
Gourry and Sylphiel arrived two days later, as their message had said they would. Gourry was ecstatic to see Lina again since he practically saw her as family, and shocked to see Zel. Gourry and Sylphiel explained that there was some rumor flying around about a red-haired sorceress single-handedly ripping apart a group of bandits with her bare hands. Gourry hadn't believed it because Lina usually just fire-balled a person and left them nice and crispy. Lina looked sullen if anything, and Zel picked up on it rather fast. Gourry also added that the rumor proclaimed that the sorceress was protecting a man who had blue skin.   
  
Lina started trembling slightly and Zel quickly ushered everyone out of the room so that they could be alone. When Zel finally turned around again, he found Lina huddled in a corner, withdrawn once more into her shell as if trying to escape some ghastly fate. Zel tried to approach her, but she put up her arm and motioned for him to stop.   
  
"Before anything else happens Zel, you need to know the truth about something." She started. Zel sat down patiently, trying to keep Lina from retreating further into her shell. At least she was telling him what was wrong.   
  
Lina started. "I it take you've heard about the Cyndor massacre that took place fifteen years ago?" She asked.   
  
Zel nodded. Heard about it? It was the bloodiest event he had ever heard of, supposedly caused by some uncontrollable demon. Luna Inverse herself had to come and try to stop the demon from killing anymore innocents. It was a given that Cyndor was a town full of criminals, but there were women and children who had died in that gory event.   
  
"What do you think caused it?" She asked. Zel gathered his thoughts on the matter.   
  
"I was under the impression from the stories that some demon caused it, though I could never gather any hard facts about the whole thing." He replied.   
  
Lina shuddered slightly. Lina took a deep breath before continuing. "Zel, when I was three, my parents were murdered. This group of men came and killed them. I was hidden by my parents in the secret room under the kitchen. I saw everything through a small hole in the wooden floor, including the faces of their killers. When they were gone, I started shaking my parents, but they were already long dead. I don't remember what happened next, I only remember feeling the anger and the rage. I felt something snap, though I don't know if it was my sanity or my control. Some memories have managed to come back to me. I pursued those same men back to their home town, Cyndor. When I found them, I cut loose and dropped all of my restraints. Every one of those men died at my hands. I was only three and I managed to rip them limb from limb. You know most of the details from there. I destroyed so many people......" Lina broke down then.   
  
She had laid her secret out for Zel alone to see. Zel slowly wrapped her arms around Lina. She continued crying and sobbing because the pain, shame, and guilt were so great. Zel never let her go as she slowly regained her composure.   
  
"I'll understand.....if you don't want to marry me now...." She started.   
  
Zel softly put a finger over lips and shushed her. "You have done nothing for which you should be ashamed. You avenged your parents' murder; there is no wrong in doing that." He explained. "And if you think that small part of your life will drive me away, you are very mistaken." He replied.   
  
Lina started crying again as she buried her face in Zel's chest. "How.......how can you forgive me so easily for such a thing?" She asked.   
  
"Because I know you Lina. I know that you would never kill anyone unless you had a very good reason. You had no control over yourself whatsoever and therefore you are not at fault." He continued. Lina looked up at Zel's face, her eyes brimming with tears.   
  
"Then......you don't hate me?" She asked.   
Uncertainty was clearly written all over her face and laced through her voice.   
  
Zel smiled and shook his head as Lina laid her head on his chest again and let a smile find its way to her lips.   
  
"He doesn't hate me...." She thought before she fell asleep.   
  
Zel never left her side.   
  
  
Lina awoke the next morning in the bed she and Zel now shared. She discovered she was alone in the bed and nearly panicked.   
  
"I see you're finally up." Zel stated from the other side of the bed.   
Lina's head snapped in that direction and she calmed down immensely.   
  
"Thanks for understanding." Lina said.   
  
Zel nodded and knelt next to the bed, caressing Lina's face as only he could. Lina closed her eyes and leaned into the hand, placing her hand over his as Zel leaned forward and touched her forehead with his.   
  
"Everything is right again..." Lina thought as she started to come to terms with what she had done. The couple stayed together for the rest of the day, reveling in simply being together. Lina had her arms wrapped around Zel's left arm and her head up against that same arm as he led them around the castle with no particular destination.   
  
The rest of the group had nearly worried themselves to death when Zel had ushered everyone out of the room to be alone with Lina after Gourry had spouted off that rumor. Questions and assumptions flew through their minds, their paranoia approaching dangerous levels as the hours passed. When Zel finally opened the door, carrying a sleeping Lina, he was almost mobbed if it hadn't been for Amelia.   
  
"Listen everyone! Yelling and screaming about this isn't going to help us! I suggest that one of us, namely me, will accompany Zel up to his room with Lina where he will try to explain what went on in there."   
  
Amelia had stated in a tone that left no one room to argue. "Damn, she's definitely taken after that Lina girl; she's gone and turned into a little spitfire herself!" Sanjuro thought to himself.   
  
Amelia made good on her idea and walked in front of Zel up to his room.   
  
Amelia shut and locked the door after she had let Zel place Lina on the bed.   
  
"What happened?" Amelia asked.   
  
Zel looked up at her slowly. "Bad memories came back to haunt her." Zel answered.   
  
Amelia managed to put two and two together and come up with a solution. "What does she have to do with the Cyndor massacre?" She asked, almost not believing it herself. Zel sat down and bowed his head.   
  
"When you leave this room, you are to say that Lina suffered a bad case of Déjà vu because she was there when it happened, do you understand?" He asked.   
  
Amelia could feel the tension in the air and nodded slowly.   
  
"My guess on why she really panicked is sketchy, but it fills in some of the holes. Lina more than likely has some kind of hidden power within herself that not even she is aware of. This power only awakens when she's faced with a near-death crisis or when she's really mad. This power seems to take control of her completely, blocking most of her memories of those moments that 'it' is in control. This power surfaced when she and I were returning to Saillune against those bandits, and it surfaced fifteen years ago in Cyndor after Lina had tracked down her parents' murderers." Zel explained.   
  
Amelia was dumbfounded to say the least. "She's the demon of the Cyndor massacre?" Amelia asked in a rather meek voice.   
  
"Not her, at least not the Lina we know. She was out of control Amelia, my impression is that she only came to her senses when her parents were avenged. She had no idea what she had done until it was far too late. That is why this must remain a secret. If anyone was to find out about this and then spread the news among the public, no one would want to go near her ever again, not to mention every Mazuko lord would be after her for the rest of her life either trying to destroy her or enlist her." He continued.   
  
Amelia nodded, immediately understanding the consequences of such an action.   
  
Luckily for everyone, Xellos had been mysteriously recalled from all duties and was currently with his mistress. He was definitely not going to know of this unless Lina, Zel, or Amelia told him. Luna was a knight for L-sama herself, so no monster was going to come knocking at her door. The only people who could give away this little secret aside from those previously mentioned were the eye-witnesses that survived, of which the list of those still alive was incredibly small. Zel had let Amelia out of the room to give everyone else their cover story and sat down to wait for Lina to wake up.   
  
  
After Zel and Lina had taken their walk around the palace, they eventually made their way to dinner. Everyone had seemingly bought the cover story and things were getting back to normal. Lina was back to her old self when she sat down to the table and set to work 'cleaning house' as she always did.   
  
Zel could sense that Lina was at peace with herself again, knowing that what she had done didn't matter to the him. Knowing Lina as he did, Zel knew that was all that mattered to her. The situation was quickly forgotten and plans for three weddings were in full swing, with Phil and Amelia urging the others to let them pay for the whole thing.   
  
As many times as the group had looked after Amelia, Phil considered this a sort of retribution for taking such good care of his daughter. Everyone seemed to sense that it wouldn't be long before families were started and lives would change forever. They felt as if they were on the verge of a new life with new hope, with nothing holding them back. This was their grand chance to start over and build lives that they had always wanted to live. Lina and Zel had no trouble with this, seeing as how they planned to keep on traveling after they were married. Amelia and Sanjuro were, of course, planning to be involved in politics as well as have a family. They were going to wait on the family though and see what L-sama's good fortune would present them with. Gourry and Sylphiel were planning on staying in Sylphiel's home town, keeping a farm and a small healing business as their means to live, and were planning on starting a family as soon as L-sama was willing to give them one. The banter continued on throughout the night as friends shared a time of reflection that was becoming all too rare, but were treasured more than any priceless artifact. Zel looked at Lina and his brow knitted for a moment before he stood up and held his glass in the motion to a toast. Everyone followed suit wordlessly.   
  
"Treasure these times and memories my friends. For no matter how powerful or how rich you become, you will never be able to buy back the minutes we have just lived." He stated as he tilted his glass back. Everyone drank, but no one said anything for the rest of that night, for words were no longer necessary.   
  
  
One month later......   
  
  
Lina sat up in bed, realizing she was alone. She wasn't scared though, at least not of the fact she was alone. Zel had not slept with her at all last night because today was the day that they would be officially joined together for the rest of their lives. She walked over to the window and saw that there were clouds in the sky, but it wasn't very sunny, not did it look downright gloomy. She recalled an old myth about the weather on a person's wedding day. If it was a bright and sunny day like nothing could go wrong, the marriage would eventually fail. If it was downright miserable on your wedding day, then the worst was over and the marriage would be very fulfilling.   
  
Yet if it fell in between and wasn't easily determinable, then one's marriage would have its ups and downs like a beginning sorcerer or sorceress who was just starting to learn Raywing. Lina liked the idea of having a somewhat problematic marriage, nothing that was crystal clear, and nothing that was doomed from the beginning, just an assurance that she had made the right choice in the long run even if it wasn't picture perfect. Lina put on a robe and went to soak in the royal family's hot springs that were conveniently near her room.   
  
She left a quick note for the servants that would probably be there when she returned to help her put on her dress. She had made certain Zel hadn't laid eyes on it prior to today so that she could look at the shock on his face when he saw her in it.   
  
Lina finally made it to the hot tubs and slipped in without disturbing the water too much. It was still early in the morning and the actual ceremony wouldn't take place until mid-afternoon. She had time for a one-hour soak to soothe her frazzled nerves. Despite how she felt about Zel and how much she knew he loved her, she was still getting cold feet. "Guess it's only natural...." She thought to herself as she fell into a light sleep.   
  
Zel woke up under the same conditions as Lina, and he was in the same bind as she was. "I can't believe that I love her more than life itself and I'm still... ...trembling uncontrollably." He thought as he stood out on the balcony of his room, looking at the overcast sky.   
  
Zel recalled the same myth that Lina had earlier, and was inwardly pleased with the message L-sama was giving him. It had been like this the whole week, long enough to cover Gourry and Sylphiel's wedding as well as Amelia's and Sanjuro's. He felt it was a overall good sign. He often fought with Lina, but their arguments never lasted for very long before they both saw the foolishness of what they were arguing over and would apologize for their actions. It was a relationship Zel had wanted without knowing it himself for many years. A woman who could stand up to him, match him blow for blow in all aspects, and even show him a little about life that he didn't always see on his own.   
  
When they had announced their engagement to the rest of their friends, Zel had immediately dug out the ring he had been saving for just this purpose for over two years. He had given it to her that night and she was in tears at the finality of the gesture, knowing that he had every intention of marrying her. He went back inside to simply sit down and wait for Sylphiel, Phil, and a few other servants to come in and help him into his tuxedo. He did his best to attempt to fall asleep to release some of the tension that was steadily building throughout his body.   
  
  
That afternoon.....   
  
  
Zel stood at the alter, his features for once betraying that he was indeed the most nervous man in the courtyard. "It's times like these that almost make me wish I had Gourry's brain and could forget where I was every few seconds." Zel thought to himself, almost chuckling at the thought of having to hold Gourry in place so he wouldn't charge off looking for Sylphiel earlier that week.   
  
He was as tense as he could ever remember being in his whole life, but he willed his feet to remain planted where they were. He suddenly heard the small orchestra of string instruments light up the courtyard with melodies that he had never heard before in his life.   
  
He nervously glanced towards the back of the aisle and saw what could only be described as his Lina transformed into an angel. The dress was bright pink that wasn't too light or too dark. Her shoulders were bare and her hair in a mass of curls that made every man question the mere words that could have been used to describe her. She started walking down the aisle with Phil escorting her. Lina had been paramount about wanting someone to give her away, and Phil had gladly accepted the task, seeing Lina almost like his own daughter. The dress accented her hair and eyes perfectly. The material flowed on her body as fluidly as water. She seemed to walk on air as she eventually closed the distance between the two of them.   
  
After Phil had given Lina to Zel, the ceremony began. Lina and Zel's eyes were locked, all traces of doubt and nervousness long forgotten. Lina smirked inwardly at the reaction she had gotten out of Zel; he had, after all, almost forgotten to accept her hand from Phil!   
  
He had recovered quickly though, and no one was the wiser. The two were so engrossed with each other that they almost didn't hear the priest ask for the rings! Zel reclaimed his dignity as his eye pointed to the priest and Lina quickly caught on, blushing in the process. The rest of the ceremony went without fail and then came the final part.   
  
"Zelgadiss Greywords, do you take Lina Inverse to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer? And forsaking all others, keep yourself only for her, as long as you both shall live until death do you part?" The priest asked.   
  
Zel smiled. "I do. Although I hate to think what would happen to Death if he did come knocking at my door. After all, Lina can get rather possessive when she chooses."   
  
Everyone present chuckled loudly at how right the groom was, and it was pure torture for Gourry not to burst out laughing at the thought of Lina beating up the Grim Reaper! The priest finally managed to will away the smirk on his face and continued.   
  
"Lina Inverse, do you take Zelgadiss Greywords to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer? And forsaking all others, keep yourself only for him, as long as you both shall live until death do you part?" The priest continued.   
  
Lina looked Zel in the eye this time. "I do. Without you Zel, life wouldn't be worth living. Don't you dare make plans to leave me or I'll rip apart all nine hells to find you and give you what for!" She answered with a dangerous glint in her eyes.   
  
Every man in the audience sweat-dropped, realizing the accuracy of the groom's previous statement about his bride being possessive. The priest only smiled at the genuine exchange between the two.   
  
"Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife." The priest finished as Zel and Lina couldn't stop looking at each other.   
  
"You may kiss the bride." He started.   
  
"We know that." The two newlyweds answered simultaneously.   
  
The priest's smile only grew wider as Zel lifted the veil over Lina's face and met her lips with his own. The kiss was as searing as it looked and several of the grown women present had to shield the eyes of the younger children. The two finally broke apart and the priest spread his arms out. "I give you ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Zelgadiss Greywords!" He pronounced.   
  
Lina and Zel turned to face the audience as Lina caught sight of another figure that was lurking near the back. She immediately recognized it as her sister, Luna. Lina smiled and waved as she and Zel made their way down the aisle, arm in arm and ready to move the celebration to the reception hall.   
  
When Lina and Zel arrived at the banquet hall, they were certainly startled to say the least. Everyone whom they had met in their travels had come to the reception since everyone couldn't fit in the courtyard. The turnout surprised even them and they blushed lightly as they took their seats near the head of the table together.   
  
The first order of business was, of course, the food. Lina was actually civilized about the whole thing, taking her time and exhibiting splendid table manners that the others had never known she possessed. Then after the food came the dancing, but both Lina and Zel wanted to wait and let others have a go at the dance floor before they hogged it to themselves for their first dance together.   
  
Luna slowly made her way over to where her sister was, but not without Zel and Lina both noticing well in advance of her arrival. She eventually came up behind them and patted them both on the shoulder.   
  
"What's up nee-chan?" Lina asked nervously.   
  
"Nothing at all, in fact I came to tell you that L-sama has her own little gift for you. Consider it her little wedding present just for the two of you. When you go out there for your first dance, don't pay attention to the string ensemble, you'll hear it." She said before moving away.   
  
Lina and Zel were both confused, but didn't question it. After another hour, the guests had decided it was high time for the bride and groom to have their time in the spotlight. Zel stood and took Lina's hand, leading her to the dance floor.   
  
They took the classical slow dance positions and waited for the ensemble to strike up a chord, not knowing what to expect. They heard the first note from the ensemble, but then a new tone took over in their own ears and no one else's. Neither of them had ever heard anything like it, and then a voice rang out with the music itself.   
  
You'll never know  
What you've done for me  
What your faith in me  
Has done for my soul...   
  
Lina and Zel were shocked by its beauty and the words that the song used, as if the song was perfectly tailored for them alone.   
  
You'll never know  
The gift you've given me...  
I'll carry it with me...   
  
Through the days ahead  
I think of days before  
You made me hope for something better  
And made me reach for something more   
  
You taught me to run  
You taught me to fly  
Helped me to free the me inside  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
You've opened my eyes  
You've opened the door  
To something I've never known before  
And your love...  
Is the music of my heart...   
  
"This is for you my two children, may your lives be long and filled with joyous days such as this." L-sama's voice seemed to reach them through the music.   
  
You were the one  
Always on my side  
Always standing by  
Seeing me through   
  
You were the song that always made me sing  
I'm singing this for you   
  
Everywhere I go  
I think of where I've been  
And of the one who knew me better  
Than anyone ever will again   
  
You taught me to run  
You taught me to fly  
Helped me to free the me inside  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
You've opened my eyes  
You've opened the door  
To something I've never known before...  
And you love...  
Is the music of my heart...   
  
"I love you Lina." Zel whispered.   
  
"I love you Zel." She replied.   
  
The song truly did describe the two of them perfectly, although they had no idea how such a sweet sound could be made. They merely moved closer and let the music touch every part of their two souls which were slowly becoming more unified with each passing moment.   
  
What you taught me  
Only your love could ever teach  
You got through when no one could reach me   
  
Cause you always saw in me  
All the best that I could be  
It was you who set me free...   
  
You taught me to run  
You taught me to fly  
Helped me to free the me inside  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
Help me hear the music of my heart   
  
You taught me to run  
You taught me to fly  
Helped me to free the me inside  
Help me hear the music of my heart  
Help me hear the music of my heart   
  
No words could describe the emotions running between the two lovers at that moment, and nothing would have done it justice if someone had tried. Silence reigned in that moment as the doors to Zel's and Lina's heart flew open and the two of them were undeniably joined together for all time. No secrets were hidden, no pain unfelt by the other, there was nothing about one that the other didn't know. Yet neither of them cared, for it was the love they felt for each other that mattered most to both of them.   
  
You've opened my eyes  
You've opened the door  
To something I've never known before  
And your love...  
Is the music of my heart...   
  
Music of my heart  
Music of my heart  
Is the music of my heart...   
  
The couple stopped dancing as the last note was struck by the ensemble and all that they could do was stare into each other's eyes. No one on the continent, let alone in the room, could fathom the bond that had just been formed between the two newlyweds. The couple kissed with a passion that was previously unheard of from either of them as cheers came from all round the room, encouraging the two to never let go of each other.   
  
Of course it was a futile lesson to teach Lina and Zel, they already had every intention of letting nothing come between them. When they finished the kiss, they simply held onto one another as the ensemble started back up and others joined the newlyweds on the dance floor.   
  
Like all good things, the celebration had to come to an end. The ladies gathered around Lina as she prepared to throw the bouquet, and among them was a certain blond-haired golden dragon priestess named Filia! Luna also lined up for the sake of just being there, knowing full well she couldn't catch it. Lina glanced quickly over her shoulder and chucked the thing into the pack of what seemed to be wild dogs at the time.   
  
Yet as the bouquet sailed through the air, there were numerous shouts and when the batch of flowers came under the law of gravity, Filia was the only woman standing to receive it! Luna quickly hid her club behind her back and shot Filia a quick smile as she darted from the scene!   
  
Next came the part every male in the room had secretly yearned for. Even Xellos had come out of the shadows for this one! Zel was the perfect gentleman in retrieving the garter, trying not to embarrass his bride too much. He simply furrowed his brow a little bit, searching for a unique character among the hoard of men and then threw it in his general direction. Every man in the group fell at the blow of Xellos's staff and he neatly caught the garter, smiling to himself.   
  
Then Amelia shouted from across the room, "Xellos, you do realize that means you're going to marry Filia, RIGHT?!"   
  
Amelia had to suppress the extreme urge to burst into laughter as Xellos turned beet red and shot Zel a look that could melt any metal known to man and then some! Filia was also as red as a tomato, but felt she owed it to Lina and Zel to play along with the ceremony.   
  
That night Lina and Zel had decided to stay at Amelia's palace for a few days and then head for their secret spot in the mountains that Zel had shown Lina before they had been married. (Author's note: Read the previous story, you'll get it!) Zel walked Lina upstairs and as per tradition, carried her in his arms through the doorway. They fell onto the bed with Lina giggling and Zel smirking.   
  
Neither of them got any sleep that night....   
  
  
Little did they know, some higher power was watching this whole scene unfold and it WAS NOT L-sama.   
  
The being smirked as it thought of bringing in a few new 'recruits'. It eventually grew bored with the show since the two humans it was observing weren't putting off any negative emotions, in fact they were on the opposite end of the spectrum which was quite frankly making it sick. It turned back towards its main servant and grinned wolfishly.   
  
"It is almost time my faithful subject, soon they will be on our side and the power to topple L-sama herself will be in my grasp!" SHE explained.   
  
"Yes master Zelas." Xellos replied grimly as his eyes began to glow a sickly shade of red, indicating his master's complete control over his body. Something big was on the rise; the only question that remained was if Lina and Zel were ready for what was most definitely coming their way.   
  
--  
  
Author's note: Ok, someone had the brilliant idea that I should continue this series and I had a songfic for the exact same couple planned, so I decided to work it in there as well! I'm glad that Reanna R. King made that suggestion! Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed this section because if you paid attention, there's going to be at least one more chapter in this little story until we get caught up and then it's all in the air. The reviews I get will determine whether or not I write about Ryo and Katherine growing up with their parents on the road, facing all sorts of dangers as little kids, etc. I leave that decision up to you readers! Until my next story!   
  
  
Next installment: The Challenge!   
  
Zel and Lina are 'invited' to join the ranks of the Mazuko, both refuse, but Lina offers Zelas a challenge and a bet she can't refuse! Lina is up to her ears in trouble until the unthinkable happens and Zelas drags Zel into the fray! What's a girl to do when every card is on the table except for one? Find out next time in THE CHALLENGE!   



	3. The Challenge

The Challenge   
An interlude of "Hope and Love......Death and Rebirth   
  
By David Goldsmith   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers in any way, form, or fashion. I am simply using characters created by some other brilliant mind to write a work of fiction that I hope readers everywhere will enjoy. Leave a review if you like the story, leave on if you don't like it, but feedback is always welcome! (Except from a microphone!) Another matter for the readers to vote on is the continuation of this series. This means that if enough people e-mail me and tell me that they want me to write about Katherine and her brother Ryo growing up on the road, then you have to e-mail me at: alex_001@hotmail.com and tell me so! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!   
  
-Previously on "Hope and Love......Death and Rebirth":   
  
Little did they know, some higher power was watching this whole scene unfold and it WASN'T L-sama. The being smirked as it thought of bringing in a few new 'recruits'. It eventually grew bored with the show since the two humans it was observing weren't putting off any negative emotions; in fact they were on the opposite end of the spectrum which was quite frankly making it sick. It turned back towards its main servant and grinned wolfishly.    
  
"It is almost time my faithful subject, soon they will be on our side and the power to topple L-sama herself will be in my grasp!" SHE explained.    
  
"Yes master Zelas." Xellos replied grimly as his eyes began to glow a sickly shade of red, indicating his master's complete control over his body. Something big was on the rise; the only question that remained was if Lina and Zel were ready for what was most definitely coming their way.   
  
  
  
What happens next to our favorite newlyweds?   
  
Read on and you will surely find out!   
  
  
  
They had roughly ten years of peace. Ten years of traveling, kicking bandit ass, stealing lots of treasure, and many passionate nights together. As everyone knows, times such as these are never meant to last forever. The time had come for Lina and Zelgadiss Greywords to prove what they were really made of.   
  
  
  
"Where should we go next Zel?" Lina asked after fire-balling yet another stray bandit that had tried to sneak up behind her.   
  
"I don't know Lina, maybe we should just get to the next town before any more bandits emerge from the woodwork and try to slow us up again." Zel suggested.   
  
Lina latched onto his arm and set herself into motion. "Okay honey! Let's get going! We haven't stayed at an inn in a couple of days!" Lina replied in a rather seductive manner. "I prefer we sleep on a soft bed rather than on that rocky ground again!" She smirked.   
  
Zel grinned deviously, yet in a way that sent a shiver of excitement running down his wife's spine. "As I recall, that so called 'rocky ground' was the river bed. Not to mention the fact that we only got two hours of sleep in that little hot tub you made out of that pool we found." He answered. Lina's cheeks lightly flushed.   
  
"Well, I didn't hear any objections from YOU...." Lina trailed off. Zel merely grinned. It was always fun to get into arguments because neither of them knew for certain who was going to win any of their arguments. It had been this way since they had left Saillune on their honeymoon just under a decade ago.   
  
"If you insist darling..." He trailed off, looking ahead of him. "There should be a town about three miles west of here if memory serves, and I hear it's got some really nice foo......oood!" Zel finished as Lina literally dragged him by his cape towards the town in question.   
  
Zel pushed his hands into the ground and performed a neat flip in the air and hit the ground running after his wife, grinning all the while. He had been forced to perfect such a maneuver with his wife consistently dragging him in seven different directions. He never put up any argument and just kept running as Lina looked back and smiled as brightly as she always did.   
  
  
That night they bunked at an inn in the town of Ganak and as always, Lina cleaned out the pantry with little effort. "You were right Zel! These guys really know how to cook!" She said between mouthfuls. The astonished waiter nearly fainted when she looked in his direction with a childish look in her eyes.   
  
"BRING ME SOME MORE!!" She shouted as the waiter fell over and knocked himself out. Zel couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, at which Lina smiled at her husband, treasuring his simple laugh that was so rare even though they were married and shared a bed every night. After dinner, the two made their way to the main desk at the inn.   
  
"Two rooms I presume?" The innkeeper asked.   
  
"Gods NO! Unless it's a custom here for a married couple to sleep in different rooms!" Lina quickly explained.   
  
Zel smiled at his wife's quick and somewhat abrupt defense of the fact she was married to him.   
  
"Oh, my mistake. Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." The innkeeper hastily replied.   
  
"We understand." Zel replied gently.   
  
Lina had jumped for joy when she first realized ten years ago that she no longer had to keep paying for two rooms as she had in the past and that saved her money. Although it was a pleasant realization, the real reason why she only needed one room never escaped her ever-attentive mind. She and Zel had soaked together in the hot tubs after they were certain everyone else in the inn was asleep for incredibly obvious reasons.   
  
They returned to their room only three hours after they had left to take their bath. They felt it was a modest amount of time compared to their record of ten hours that they had set on the first night at an inn during their honeymoon.   
  
Lina finished undressing and climbed into bed alongside a shirtless Zel and curled up, never thinking that their peaceful times were about to be brought to an incredibly abrupt halt.   
  
  
  
Hundreds of miles to the east, in a kingdom ruled by a foreign king and a native queen, a great evil began to lay siege to the city. Within the night, fields were set aflame, houses leveled, villages destroyed, and people killed. And overseeing it all was a single figure with purple hair and a staff who watched everything unfold with hideous red eyes, smirking evilly.   
  
"Soon we will have the power to dispose of the remaining dark lords and then the world will belong to the Beastmaster." The figure spoke to no one in particular. The figure turned and walked back the way he had come, passing a burning sign that had three simple words on it; 'Welcome to Saillune'.......   
  
  
  
One month later.........   
  
"I still think that we should have gone to Saillune first Zel, they at least have ice cream for crying out loud!" Lina shouted at her husband, who merely looked ahead. This annoyed her to no end and she simply yielded the argument to her husband.   
  
Zel was still not good with crowds and he preferred to stay as far away from them for as long as possible. "I simply don't think we should go barging in unannounced, at least Amelia would take the time to read a letter sent from Sylphiel and Gourry." He pointed out.   
  
Lina made a pouting face and stuck out her tongue at him, knowing he was right. Zel let a charming smile grace his lips and Lina latched on to his arm once again, not caring to fight at the moment.   
  
They received the shock of their lives when they were about to enter Sairaag.   
  
All that was left of the front gate was a burning husk of timbers. In the distance, they could hear explosions and metal blades clanging against each other. Without even glancing at each other, Zel took to the rooftops and Lina headed directly towards the sounds of the battle. They both arrived at about the same time, and were shocked again for the second time that day.   
  
Zangulus and Gourry were standing back to back with Sylphiel backing them up with protection spells. It was clear that all of them had been lax in their training, for none of them fought like they had years ago. Lina looked directly at Zel without having to search.   
  
"Sometimes the bond that L-sama gave us during our wedding is incredibly handy to have." Lina thought to herself.   
  
Zel made a few hand motions to tell her that he could count thirty remaining monsters on the ground that were hammering away at the trio of fighters.   
  
  
Gourry's Sword of Light was doing its job well, but Gourry was still tiring out and would fall if they didn't interfere soon.   
  
  
  
Lina prepared a gigantic fireball as Zel drew his sword and quietly cast Astral Vine. Lina and Zel glanced one more time at each other and with a simple narrowing of the eyes, both of them leapt into battle and cut loose.   
  
  
"Gourry, it looks like this is how we end up biting the big one...." Zangulus stated. Gourry was focused on the fight, but had time to answer his friend's question.   
  
"I hope your wife and the children got out okay." He answered before he prepared to leap after another monster and come one step closer to either defeat or victory.   
  
Sylphiel said nothing, but the look of absolute determination that was on her face spoke volumes. "I hope our children and Martina got out in one piece." She thought quietly. Suddenly, she sensed a great power building somewhere on the other side of the small courtyard, two in fact. She only had enough time to shout a warning to the two men before all hell literally broke loose.   
  
"GET DOWN!!!" She screamed in earnest.   
  
Both men immediately hit the dirt, expecting Sylphiel to use the Dragon Slave, but what they saw next totally blew their minds. A sight neither of them had seen for over a decade......Lina and Zelgadiss had returned.   
  
  
"FIREBALL!" Lina shouted as she let the first of many take out about eight monsters before she charged up a Mono Bolt and fried two others.   
  
Zel came from the rooftops swinging and literally beheading and slicing the monsters in two with his newly improved sword. The metal was far stronger and the spell had been altered to also kill monsters, much like the sword of light.   
  
In mere minutes, they had decimated the thirty or so monsters that had remained. They both quickly ran over to Gourry, Zangulus, and Sylphiel.   
  
"It can't be...." Zangulus and Sylphiel said in unison.   
  
"You better believe it, cause I only know one flat-chested sorceress in red who hangs around with blue-skinned chimera in a white cloak!" Gourry nearly shouted with joy.   
  
"Yeah Gourry, keep talking like that and you'll end up getting the beating I've reserved just for you for the past ten years!" Lina boldly shouted.   
  
"I can't believe it's really you Lina! I thought we were in real trouble there for a while..." Sylphiel replied.   
  
Zangulus merely looked at Zel with wonder, he had seen him fight before and never had he shown this much power. "Oh well, guess since we gave up our training for families that they would naturally get stronger while we took it easy." He thought to himself.   
  
After numerous hugs and a little quick catching up, Lina spoke up. "What's going on around here? Me and Zel only came here today and we find the whole town in ruins and neck deep in monsters! Who the hell is behind all of this?" She asked.   
  
"You mean you really don't know?" Zangulus asked, eyes wide.   
  
"Know what?" Zel inquired. "I don't like the sound of this. From his expression, he's under the impression that we should know about this." Zel thought to himself.   
  
"The Beastmaster has been sending out scouts and soldiers to issue an edict to the two of you. You're to join her or perish." He explained.   
  
"Yeah, and all nine hells just froze over!" Lina shot back.   
  
The group was silent for a moment before a thought leapt into Zel's mind.   
  
"Saillune.....was it...." He trailed off.   
  
Gourry nodded his head solemnly to answer his unspoken question.   
  
"That was the first place they looked. They torched the whole kingdom, they barely left enough for them to start over with. They'll recover, but it'll take time." He explained.   
  
Zel was in shock at the news. "...my sister..." He thought.   
  
Gourry's face lit up immediately after that. "Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that Amelia and Sanjuro both made it out alive!" He explained.   
  
Zel breathed out an inward sigh of relief. "Where are they now?" He asked   
  
"They're on a scouting mission and should be back in a few days, but before we go any further, how is it that both of you know nothing about all of this? It's been nearly a month since Saillune was sacked. Nearly every continent knows about its defeat." Zangulus inquired.   
  
Zel and Lina both looked at each other and nodded before beginning their tale. "We were out on the rim of known territory on a mapping expedition, a good couple thousand miles from here." Lina began. "It was Zel's idea to take the job from a prince that had a kingdom that bordered on the rim. He figured that Lina Inverse and whoever traveled with her would be bold enough to take the job and map out what was beyond the known world. We only started coming back to Sairaag about three weeks ago. And the only reason we made such good time was because we could fly over mountains and cut corners no regular person could. With my power and Zel's endurance, we literally made a bee line for Sairaag. We haven't had a decent rest in a couple of weeks and I for one am definitely in need of a nap." Lina finished.   
  
Gourry, Zangulus, and Sylphiel all looked at their old friends in moderate shock.   
  
Zangulus was the first to recover. "You mean that you were dog tired when you fought those monsters?" He asked shakily.   
  
"Yeah, although they were hardly a challenge worthy of our time. Me and Zel faced better opponents on the rim than we ever did traveling around this part of the world. She answered.   
  
"She's telling the truth, where else do you think we got the ability to enhance our attacks and spells? My sword was recast in a stronger metal and I managed to upgrade the Astral Vine spell to affect monsters as well as the sword of light does. All in all, I say we came back with some pretty nifty tricks." Zel concluded.   
  
Gourry, lost as usual, spoke first. "Just the same, it's good to have the two of you back with us. We can go and get Martina and the kids now and hunker down to wait for Amelia and Sanjuro to return." He said as he turned and started walking towards the eastern part of the city. Sylphiel recovered a moment later and dashed after her husband, eager to see her children again. Zangulus repositioned his hat and followed Zel and Lina as Gourry led the way through the demolished city of Sairaag.   
  
An hour of walking later put the group in front of a small shed. Gourry opened the door as Zangulus kept a careful watch for any eavesdroppers.   
  
Zel put a hand on his shoulder, signaling him that nothing was there. Zangulus took the chimera's word for it, seeing as how Zel could literally hear a sewing pin drop from a mile away if he wanted to. Gourry called out the sword of light and let the glow lead them down a hidden passageway. Zel and Lina merely followed, constantly alert for any change in their surroundings.   
  
The group eventually came upon an underground section of Rezo's old laboratory.   
  
"This is it." Gourry said as he extinguished his sword and put it back in its sheath at his side. They were in a rather large room that had a lot of caved in wreckage all around them. Gourry immediately put his hands up to his mouth in a move to amplify his voice.   
  
"Olli Olli Oxen free!" He shouted.   
  
Lina and Zel were amused at the simple password that their friend had devised.   
  
"Well at least it's something he'll never forget." Lina thought aloud.   
  
Suddenly, Martina appeared from behind an obliterated pillar holding an infant and carrying a toddler in a special backpack. A two year old child came running out from behind Martina's legs.   
  
"DADDY!" The boy shouted as he latched on to Gourry's leg. Gourry only knelt down and picked up his son, rubbing his hands through his son's hair affectionately.   
  
Martina slowly walked up to Sylphiel and handed her the infant in her arms. "Come to mommy!" Sylphiel cooed sweetly, making the small girl in her arms giggle and chortle.   
  
Martina finally walked over to her husband and took off her backpack and handed her son over to her husband, more than glad to get the heavy tike off of her for a few minutes. It was then that she noticed that Lina and Zel were with the others. Her first reaction was to gasp and back away.   
  
"I don't.....I don't believe it!" She started. "I heard that you two were dead!" She nearly shouted.   
  
Lina smiled. "Just goes to show you that you can't always believe what you hear." She replied. "So let me guess, that's your son and the other two belong to Sylphiel and Gourry?" She asked. Martina nodded slowly, showing Lina that she had indeed matured enough to appear civil since the last time they had met.   
  
Zangulus was rocking his son in his arms and humming a light tune while Sylphiel and Gourry were talking to their oldest son and trying to make their little girl laugh again.   
  
Lina's uncertainty suddenly bit her.....big time. "All of them have kids now..." She thought to herself. She saw Zelgadiss looking at the small children with a look that was completely new to him, almost like he was longing to be in their shoes, raising a child of his own.   
  
Lina had explained to him countless times before they had married that she would probably not be able to bear any children at all, and Zel had still accepted their marriage despite the warning. Now it looked as though he was having second thoughts, and the uncertainty of it was ripping her apart.   
  
Zel suddenly felt a ripple in the link between himself and Lina. She was troubled, that much he knew. He could probably guess that she thought he wanted children. While he knew that he might want to raise one someday, he still wasn't ready for that yet. So he did the only thing that came to mind. He went over and told Lina what was on his mind.   
  
"You know, I think that raising kids.......is a wonderful thing." He started.   
  
Lina's face fell, knowing that she had little chance to deliver what Zel had just said he wanted.   
  
"Yet I know that I'm not yet ready to raise a child. So I will wait until L-sama deems me worthy of raising one." He explained, looking Lina in the eye the whole time.   
  
Lina felt her mind whirling, knowing that Zel still loved her. He had settled her doubts in his own little way, letting her know that he had waited this long just to be with her, and that he was in no hurry to take the next step in their lives. Lina couldn't help but hug the man she loved, burying her face in his chest, her eyes watering for only a moment.   
  
"Thank you for understanding...." She said. Zel only nodded and held her tighter.   
  
A thought suddenly occurred to Lina and she walked over to Gourry. "Hey Gourry, your kids don't look that old. I thought you said that you were going to start a family as soon as possible?" She asked questionably.   
  
Gourry looked at her kind of funny, but he quickly passed it off and went to tapping his knee with his fingers.   
  
"Well, I did say that, but you see, Sylphiel couldn't have kids before a few years ago because of her use of black magic during our travels. She cast the Dragon Slave enough so that it nullified any chances we had of having any children. The effects of her black magic usage have just now worn off and so we're starting our family now. It was a pretty good thing we didn't have kids those first few years, we barely had much money at all while getting started and everything else. It was a godsend that what happened did, otherwise we might have ended up broke and wandering the countryside like you!" He blurted without thinking.   
  
Had Lina not been in shock at the fact that Gourry had actually just explained something to her, then she would have knocked him clear to the moon, but as previously stated she wasn't able to.   
  
"Wow, since when did Gourry get smart?" She thought aloud.   
  
"Gourry-dear has been listening very well to the teachers we got for him. He's changed a lot over the past ten years, he actually knows enough to run the house when I take long trips into the countryside to heal someone who's ill and can't make it into town." Sylphiel explained.   
  
"Man, right when we leave, things get interesting. Right Lina?" Zel asked from across the campfire he had managed to get going next to a fallen slab of stone.   
  
The group gathered around the fire and listened to stories of what Lina and Zel had encountered on the rim among other things while they eagerly awaited the return of Amelia and Sanjuro.   
  
  
Two days later.....   
  
"Gee whiz, after two weeks of searching, we didn't find any other clues or hints as to what's going on around here." Amelia complained.   
  
"Don't lose heart sweetie, I'm sure things will be much better when we get back to Sairaag. Just think, something is bound to happen that'll turn the tables back in our favor." Sanjuro heartily replied.   
  
"Thanks dear, it just seems that...." Amelia trailed off as she felt something tug on her tunic, or someone....   
  
"Mommy, how long until we get back to Uncle Gourry's house?" Her daughter asked.   
  
"We're making good time, so I guess we should be there in a couple of hours." She answered with a smile of pure joy. She looked at her small daughter and could see the eyes of her father, but the mere thought of her father brought tears to her eyes.   
  
Her father had sacrificed his life against that hoard of monsters to insure that his granddaughter was safe and sound. He had died so that they could escape and get to Sairaag in order to bring back Gourry and hopefully Zangulus as well.   
  
That idea had quickly gone south and they were forced to take refuge in Sairaag under the great holy tree Flagoon for nearly a week before Sylphiel had found them. Amelia could clearly recall the past month of pure hellish torment and almost regretted bringing her daughter into this world.   
  
"If only Miss Lina were here, she'd show them a thing or two!" She growled. Sanjuro smiled, but his eyes were sad.   
  
"I wish they were here too Amelia, because we sure could use some help right about now and those two seem to be the only ones who could ever stand up to monsters and live to tell about it." He continued. "Hey, I can see Flagoon, we must be closer than we thought." Sanjuro thought aloud.   
  
Amelia looked ahead to the city of Sairaag. She saw fresh columns of smoke rising into the air and suddenly took off running.   
  
"Another battle!" She shouted as her husband easily picked up their daughter and ran with her on his back in order to catch his rather speedy wife.   
  
Sanjuro thought out a quick prayer that Gourry and Zangulus had survived. They were literally the only ones from Amelia's past that had survived. Them and Sylphiel anyway. No one had seen or heard about Lina Inverse and Zelgadiss for the past nine or ten years. He added another prayer for their safe return, wherever they may have been at the time.   
  
He eventually caught up and kept pace with his wife until they reached the city limits a few hours later.   
  
It was absolutely nerve-racking to search through piles of rubble to find the entrance to their temporary home, Rezo's old Lab, but they eventually found it. Amelia knew that if they were alive, they would be below, hiding, if they had escaped uninjured. They eventually reached the main chamber that served as their living quarters and so much more. She looked around and found the group by a small fire.   
  
She dashed over and quickly counted heads.   
  
"6...7...8..." She thought to herself. Something snapped. "EIGHT?!" She thought wildly as she eyed a peculiar bundle that was smaller than the men and Sylphiel, but far larger than the children.   
  
She leaped over the fire and was about to draw her dagger when a tuft of red hair fell out from underneath the blanket. Amelia froze.   
  
Of course, it could have been that she found herself at sword-point as well. She glanced down the blade until she saw the arm. A blue hand covered with an ivory glove and an ivory sleeve that extended into the darkness. She was close enough to see for herself that the red tuft of hair belonged to her old sensei, Lina Inverse. She didn't even have to look towards the owner of the sword, her tears simply wouldn't stop at the realization of it all.   
  
"M...Mr. Zelgadiss?" She asked hesitantly. The sword immediately quivered and withdrew and the chimera came into the light, shoving his hood and mask away from his face.   
  
"Amelia..." He whispered, afraid that she wasn't real. They met in a mutual hug that was typical of a brother and sister reunion. "I thought I had lost you again little sister..." He thought aloud.   
  
"You weren't the only one big brother....." She replied.   
  
Sanjuro came into the light carrying their daughter in his arms. "Zel, it's nice to see that you're alright." He managed to get out.   
  
Zel looked at him in a very serious manner. "That you for taking care of my little sister while I was gone. I assume that is my niece?" He asked with a wide grin on his face. Sanjuro only nodded and let Zel examine her in the flickering firelight.   
  
"You did a good job raising her." He added slowly.   
  
"Thank you." Amelia and Sanjuro replied together.   
  
"I suppose we should wait until daybreak before we get any louder. Now you two go on and get some rest, I'll keep watch the rest of the night." He said, almost ordering them to lie down for a while to get their strength back. They eagerly complied and everyone slept with a wary chimera watching over them throughout the night.   
  
  
Lina woke up the next morning to the sound of chattering voices. One she recognized right away as her lover's, the other was incredibly familiar. Only she remembered it being a lighter tone and was usually ranting on about justice and truth among other things. She slowly opened her eyes to see that her ears had not deceived her.   
  
"Good morning everyone..." She managed to grumble, shaking the remnants of sleep from her tired face. She really needed to crash for another two days or so to get back her full strength, but she would manage for now.   
  
"Miss Lina! Nice to see you woke up in time for breakfast!" Amelia happily cheered.   
  
Lina looked and saw Zel sitting across the fire, talking with a girl that looked eerily similar to Phil. Not literally, but she had the same eyes that had been present when she was given to Zel at their wedding all those years ago.   
  
"And who might that be?" Lina asked, sleep becoming nothing more than a fond memory as her mind cleared.   
  
"That is my daughter and your niece!" Amelia explained happily.   
  
Lina's face suddenly hit the floor.   
  
"YOU HAD A KID TOO?!?" She nearly shouted. Lina was beginning to think that she might never get one of her own.   
  
She quickly suppressed the thought though, seeing as how Zel was willing to wait and she would be more than willing to FIND a way to bear his child after this whole conflict was resolved. "And if I can't find a way, then I'll damn well MAKE a spell that will allow me to do so!" Lina thought triumphantly to herself.   
  
Amelia quickly motioned for her daughter to come over to meet her long-lost aunt. Zel came over as well and sat next to Lina, smiling a little at her before he turned back to Amelia.   
  
"This is Kethry Gracia Saillune." Amelia began. "And this Kethry, is your famous aunt, Lina Inverse Greywords!" She finished.   
  
The small girl walked calmly up to Lina and gave her a hug. "Mommy told me all about you Aunt Lina! You sure are prettier than everyone says!" The little girl giggled as she went back to sit in her mother's lap.   
  
Lina looked at the small child fondly and smiled one of her rarest, most genuine smiles in greeting to her new family member. Zel was breaking into a grin of his own while Amelia's jaw had detached and was hanging freely!   
  
"It's nice to meet you Kethry, you're a very pretty girl for your age." Lina commented.   
  
Kethry blushed, clearly not used to such attention from strangers. "That's what Uncle Zel says too..." She trailed off.   
  
Something suddenly clicked in Lina's mind. "Gracia....wasn't that your sister's name?" Lina asked gently.   
  
Amelia nodded, but her eyes were sad once again. "My sister returned about a week before the monster raid on the kingdom. We found out that she knew you pretty well Lina..." She trailed off.   
  
"I think I would have remembered meeting another princess, but what was the name she went by? I could have sworn I would have recognized her..." She trailed off.   
  
Amelia giggled before she continued. "She was called......Naga, the White Serpent!" She happily announced.   
  
Lina's face met the floor for the second time within five minutes. "You mean to tell me that....that......banshee.....is your sister!??" Lina groaned painfully.   
  
Amelia's head hung low once more. "She WAS my sister..." She trailed off.   
  
Lina felt her heart clench up. She had never really liked Naga as much as Zel or the others, but she was still a friend that had bailed Lina out of a jam on more than one occasion.   
  
One could call it a partnership if nothing else, but she held a measure of respect for the way Naga had always carried herself. Her confidence was second only to Lina's and that was what got them through so many of the early battles. Lina had been jealous to no end over her physical attributes, but she still respected Naga as one of her first friends.   
  
It made her heart skip a few beats to think that the lively woman was no longer around. As crazy as it would sound to anyone who had known her, Lina was going to miss her friend.   
  
Amelia saw the pain in Lina's eyes and draped an arm over her sensei's shoulder.   
  
"She died alongside my father giving Sanjuro, Kethry, and myself the chance to get away and get help. When we got back, both she and my father were found dead near the castle. My father was leaning against a wall, holding my sister to his chest like he did with me when I was only a little girl..." Amelia's eyes were tearing up again and she quickly wiped them away.   
  
"At least Naga made her peace before she died." Lina thought aloud. She felt Zel pull her into his arms and move his hand through her hair in the most soothing of manners.   
  
Amelia eventually cheered up and went to talk with the others and brought Lina and Zel some breakfast. Everyone had a lot to be thankful for. Lina and Zel were back, they had survived another attack, and things were starting to look up.   
  
It was Gourry who brought up the question nobody was eager to think about.   
  
"What do we do now?" He asked. Everyone suddenly found the floor incredibly interesting to look at.   
  
Zel was the first to answer.   
  
"It seems we need to assemble our old crew and as of now we are only missing one other member if you don't count that double-crossing mazuko bas..." He caught himself just as the children were starting to get wide-eyed.   
  
Lina caught his gaze and beamed. "You mean Filia?" She asked with a cheerful smile. Zel only nodded.   
  
"We can't stay here forever. They are bound to find us sooner or later, so I suggest we go and see if Filia is up for another round with the mazuko. I hope she and Val haven't been involved yet." Zel finished.   
  
Lina nodded. "Do you guys have any objections?" She turned to the rest of the group. No one gave any argument.   
  
"It's settled then, we move out tomorrow morning and head for Filia's cottage. Right now we need to see what we can scrounge up from what's left of Rezo's lab that can be of any advantage to us." She finished as she fastened her cape and took off into the ruins with Zel, Amelia, Gourry, and Zangulus on her heels.   
  
"Watch the children you two, and if there's trouble then get into the ruins and hide." Gourry said before he vanished into the darkness. Sylphiel and Martina simply nodded and went about tidying up the room and tending the children until the others returned.   
  
  
Lina and the others had found a few items in the ruins, but nothing that was going to dramatically tip the scales in their favor. The items would only assist in their survival, consisting of a few uniquely enchanted blades and some old supply dumps that had been sealed up for emergencies.   
  
They returned to camp early to find the women and children enjoying themselves in the flickering firelight. They packed up what they had and went to bed early knowing they would need their strength for the long journey ahead.   
  
Lina and Zel could have made the trip in two days if they cut loose and flew through the countryside. With the others slowing them up, it would take nearly ten days. A lot of time to get attacked by anything that deemed them a target worthy of the risk. Not that the group couldn't handle whatever came their way, but they could never know what might find them.   
  
Zel was already up and had his pack on his shoulders when the others were only stirring. "Rise and shine everyone, we have a long day ahead of us." He stated as everyone was roused out of sleep by the light spell he ignited in the otherwise nearly dark room.   
  
When everyone was saddled up and ready to move, they made their way to the surface with Zel in the lead. Zel had both ears peeled as he opened the secret entrance in the floor of the shed. When they realized that they were in no immediate danger, they hit the open road and headed to the west, in search of Filia and Val.   
  
They encountered no bandits on the first day since they were so close to Sairaag and no criminal would come within a day's journey of the decimated city. They camped alongside a river that night, with Zangulus taking watch so Zel could regain some of his strength again. Nothing happened that night and the next day found them on the road again at daybreak.   
  
  
  
Nine Days Later.....   
  
  
The group had met with only a few groups of bandits, which were easily dispatched with minimal difficulty by the fighters of the group. Lina and Zel were almost back up to one hundred percent and hardly tired from carrying most of the load that was otherwise known as their survival gear. They eventually reached the clearing that Gourry had described and found the home untouched.   
  
"What a relief...." Lina let out a held breath, knowing that Filia was probably doing just fine.   
  
The group silently agreed and carefully approached the house. They soon found out why the house was particularly untouched.   
  
A giant golden dragon suddenly descended from the sky and landed right in front of them with the full intention of utilizing deadly force, but froze when she saw the two people leading the group.   
  
"Lina......Zelgadiss...." She stammered in her dragon voice.   
  
"Yeah, that's us Filia, we're back." Lina replied loud enough to be heard, yet soft enough to be felt.   
  
Zel quickly brought out a spare sheet and handed it to Lina who approached Filia. The pair went behind the house and Filia shrunk back into her human form. They came back around a minute later.   
  
"I'm sorry, but lately every monster in the world seems to be appearing at our doorstep, not to mention looters and bandits. I moved Val up into the caves on the mountain and have been making trips to the house for supplies. I put protection spells over most of the house and everything inside so I wouldn't lose too much." She replied.   
  
"I kept hearing the monsters calling out for you Lina. They also wanted Zelgadiss, but you weren't anywhere to be found. Everyone started to think that you were dead, but I have to know, where have you been for the past ten years?" She asked.   
  
Lina relayed the same story to Filia and after another hour, everyone was finally on the same page.   
  
"Is your cave able to conceal all of us?" Zel asked.   
  
Filia shook her head. "Only for a little while at best, they'll find us eventually. When monsters are involved, running and protection spells only buy you time. They catch you eventually."   
She explained.   
  
Zangulus spoke up next. "Regardless of that, we should try to hide for a few more days until Lina and Zel are fully rested. Then we need to find out how to resolve this situation rather quickly, otherwise this world is going to be torn apart until there's nothing left." He explained.   
  
Martina looked rather gloomy, but the way she clutched her son indicated that she agreed. She was definitely calmer now, being a mother made her do a complete turn-around in character. She valued her son more than she had ever valued her own god or her pride.   
  
The rest of the group chatted on without her input and then she finally noticed her husband was standing next to her. "Zangulus, do you think they could really win this thing?" she asked, since she was now almost useless on the battlefield.   
  
Zangulus glanced at her softly and replied. "I think that if anyone has a decent chance, it's those two. Just look at them, they seem to be much stronger in all aspects since they returned. Being on the rim must have had something to do with that fact, but they are definitely this world's best hope to beat this." He answered.   
  
Similar thoughts were crossing the minds of everyone in the group as they watched Lina and Zel interact. There was definitely something different about the two of them, from the way they moved to the way they fought. Everyone had seen them together in times against the Hellmaster and Dark Star, times that they had seemed to know EXACTLY what the other was thinking.   
  
Now it seemed to have grown and become something no one had ever seen before. Zel was by far more confident about himself and Lina was calmer than ever before. The group hardly recognized the two people before them now, but in their hearts they knew that these two people were the same friends that they had known for the better parts of their traveling years.   
  
"I think we should head out before anything else happens." Lina stated as Filia nodded and went behind the house to transform again.   
  
Within the hour, Filia had transported everyone to the cave Val had been hiding in. The cave was very near the peak, a plus since wild animals rarely came up to such an altitude. The group settled in for a few days of rest and to ponder how to best resolve the situation.   
  
The next day, Lina announced that she was going for a walk and left the group, followed unknowingly by Zel.   
  
"Where is she headed?" Zel thought as he saw her wander to the other side of the mountain and come upon a somewhat familiar set of boulders. Instantly, it snapped into place and he revealed himself.   
  
Lina could feel his presence since she had left camp, knowing that he would follow her. She sat down in the exact same place she had eleven years before, where she had pondered what the world would be like if she were to end her life. She felt Zel take a seat beside her and look out towards the horizon.   
  
"I remember this place quite vividly." He said in a gentle tone.   
  
"I thought it would be appropriate to pay this place another visit. After all, it brought us together." She replied.   
  
"Promise me that you won't get killed in this." Zel suddenly blurted out.   
  
Lina knew how much Zel needed her because she needed him just as much. "I don't know if I can make a sure fire promise my love, but I swear by the ring on my finger, the blood in my veins, and the power in my soul that I will do my best to never leave you." She replied.   
  
"I love you Lina." He answered.   
  
"And I love you Zel." She let the words flow off her tongue with joy and an indescribable feeling of contentment. She said it with such sincerity that it was never to be questioned in Zel's mind ever again.   
  
They spent the next few hours simply sitting there in each other's embrace, treasuring the companionship that they now had and would never willingly let go of.   
  
A figure watched them from the sky and grinned evilly.   
  
"I finally found you two...." He began. "Now there isn't anywhere for you to run to, and soon we will crush the world in the palm of our hands." He finished coldly before he vanished.   
  
The figure decided to wait until dawn to draw attention to himself since he personally didn't want to fight them at night where they could slip away again if they played their cards just right.   
  
"Patience is a good thing to have. I have waited fifteen years for this day, another twelve hours won't make a difference." Another figure, female in nature, sinisterly smiled in the debts of her labyrinth, eagerly awaiting the time when she would crush the remaining dark lords and claim the world for herself.   
  
  
"They'll never know what hit them...." Both voices chuckled darkly.   
  
Another entity silently watched the exchange and nearly burst out laughing. Those two had no idea....   
  
  
  
The group woke up in the cave and for the first time since their return, Lina and Zel felt fully rested.   
  
"I feel like a million gold coins!" Lina nearly shouted. Zel smirked and got up to start brewing the coffee, a habit his wife had picked up from him no less.   
  
As soon as everyone was up, breakfast was made, and everyone settled in for what would hopefully be another uneventful day.   
  
Their hopes were quickly squashed by a voice that no one had heard for at least ten years.   
  
"How is everyone today?" The voice of the trickster priest rang out.   
  
The group all shot dark looks at him instantly, forgetting that children were present.   
  
Filia was the first to react. "What are you doing here Namagomi?" She asked with a look of utter disgust written across her face.   
  
"Still as feisty as ever Filia, you haven't changed a bit! And what if I wanted to stop by and pay a visit to my dearest friends just to say...." He trailed off.   
  
"Cut the crap Xellos, and tell us what you want. You don't disappear for ten years and then suddenly reappear just to say 'hi'! So cut your so called formalities and get to why you're here!" Lina yelled.   
  
Xellos suddenly turned cold. "Very well then Lina, you want to know why I'm here, so I'll tell you. I have come to take you to my master so that you can join us." He explained.   
  
If Lina was shocked, she never showed it. She just kept eating and never even looked at him. Xellos's vein popped out on his head at the blatant disrespect she was showing him. The rest of the group watched as Lina finally stopped eating and turned her attention to Xellos.   
  
"You know my answer Xellos. No, I won't become one of you. I won't turn into some sick twisted ghost that thrives on the pain of others. Go find someone else gullible enough to fall for your act. You've wasted your time with me." She explained.   
  
Xellos shook his head. "You don't get it Lina..." He began walking towards her and was about to his hand on her shoulder when he suddenly found that a fist was connecting with his jaw.   
  
A stone fist.   
  
Xellos was thrown back a good twenty feet. He slowly sat up and rubbed his jaw absently. "That was a good one Zelly-kun, but if I had wanted a kiss, I would have asked for one." He replied darkly.   
  
Zel merely stared back before a grin broke out on his face. "You call that little love tap a 'good' punch? You must be getting soft Xellos..." He trailed off.   
  
Xellos was fuming red at the insult, a first at the hands of Zel. The Mazuko general rushed him so fast that he was certain the chimera would never see it coming. He laid a left hook across Zel's face that would have leveled a mountain, instead the chimera took only a single step back in recoil.   
  
Xellos was certain the chimera hadn't been expecting him to give him a decent punch, so he smirked mercilessly. That is until Zel opened his eyes and all Xellos saw was annoyance without the slightest trace of pain.   
  
"Is that all?" Zel asked plainly, his voice confirming he wasn't in any pain.   
  
Xellos, for once, was caught off guard. Zelgadiss only sounded like he was slightly startled at the impact of such a punch, yet he should have nearly dislocated the chimera's jaw. He suddenly got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had just made a big mistake.   
  
Lina spoke next. "Listen Xellos, if Zelas wants to talk, then far be it from us to deny her invitation. Only you tell her that we will only come to her island if she pulls all of her minions back and leaves this world alone. Then we will gladly make our way to her island under our own power and have a nice chat with her to clear some things up. Give her that message and let us know if she agrees, otherwise, we're not going anywhere." Lina boldly declared.   
  
Xellos had lost the ability to fume with such words coming from Lina's mouth. He suddenly heard his master's voice within his own mind.   
  
"Xellos, get back here right now. We have much to discuss." She spoke with a somewhat strained voice.   
  
Xellos turned back to the small group. "I will deliver your message, but this is only the beginning Lina. That much I can assure you!" He nearly shouted as he disappeared and left the group in peace.   
  
Lina and Zel went back to breakfast while the rest of the group came out of the cave where they had sought refuge ever since Zel had punched Xellos. Everything slowly crept back to normal as everyone waited for Xellos to return with word from his master.   
  
  
Xellos reappeared right at sunset.   
  
"My master accepts your terms. She has recalled all of her minions and will leave this world alone so long as you leave at dawn and allow me to travel with you." He explained.   
  
"Tell her that she has a deal then, we'll head out at dawn." Lina confirmed. Xellos disappeared again.   
  
  
  
Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel came up to her and sat down.   
  
"What's up guys?" Lina asked, wondering what they wanted to tell her that took all of them present to say it.   
  
"We're coming with you Lina, all of us." Gourry started.   
  
"NO, you aren't! This fight is mine and Zel's to win and I won't have all of you caught up in it!" She replied   
  
"Unless you've forgotten Miss Lina, we ARE caught up in it! They have destroyed our cities and our lives, and I for one am not going to sit around and let a chance like this go by! Besides, you need someone to watch your back against someone like Xellos." Amelia firmly put her proverbial foot down, surprising even Lina with her bold statement.   
  
She debated the matter internally before Zel placed a hand on her shoulder from behind and she looked up into his eyes. Instantly, she understood.   
  
"You guys realize that by coming with us, you doom your kids to the early stages of insanity courtesy of Xellos?" She grinned.   
  
The group smiled back and shook their heads. Zangulus and Martina came up with the children and announced their intention to come as well. Lina and Zel could only smile in return, thankful to have such good friends care so much for them after so long a separation.   
  
As promised, the group was packed up and moving at dawn. They had a two week journey ahead of them to the port city of Avernus, then another four days on a boat to Zela's island, and then finally the confrontation itself. It was a little staggering to say the least. Yet Zel and Lina never faltered.   
  
"Let's move out troops!" Lina shouted as she started walking in the general direction of Avernus.   
  
The group and Xellos followed without thinking twice.   
  
  
Two Weeks Later....   
  
"Finally, we made it to Avernus!" Amelia shouted with joy, as did Kethry.   
  
"There will be a boat waiting for us in the morning at pier six." Xellos supplied before disappearing once more.   
  
The group settled down for the evening and found a decent restaurant. When they finally sat down, Filia and Amelia asked the question that had been on the edge of their tongues for two whole weeks.   
  
"Mr. Zelgadiss, what exactly are you planning to do once we get to Zela's island?" Amelia asked nervously.   
  
"Well, we'll confront her...." Zel began.   
  
"..And tell her to kindly leave us the HELL ALONE!" Lina shouted.   
  
Zel winced and smiled at the same time. "Something like that.....yes..." He trailed off.   
  
"You're going to tell a dark lord to 'leave you the HELL alone'?" Filia repeated, almost aghast at how Lina could possibly even consider such an option.   
  
"That would almost be a full blown declaration of war!" Zangulus nearly shouted.   
  
"You're both right, but it'll be a war we can fight without endangering anyone other than our small group. I have a feeling that Zelas has no intention of letting us off of the island alive unless we give ourselves to her. I personally don't want to become a monster, so if push comes to shove, we won't have to worry about causing any more damage." Lina explained.   
  
Everyone at the table saw the reason in it, even Gourry. No one put up any further argument. Lina and Zel had decided to take this fight to Zelas and end it then and there. There was no use in involving the rest of the world in their small blood feud with the mazuko. Even though the group retired early, very few of them got any sleep.   
  
The group met as planned at pier six the next morning and boarded the ghost ship that was going to take them to see Zelas. Xellos was there to show them around the ship and then he simply stood on the command deck.   
  
"It's going to be a long four days....." Everyone silently thought, even Xellos.   
  
  
  
Four Days Later.....   
  
The ship had just finished docking and it was time to gather their things and depart. Lina and Zel looked out onto the desolate island and held hands, finding strength in each other to be ready for what was coming.   
  
"Home sweet home..." Xellos stated as he walked down the gangplank.   
  
Everyone else was, to say the least, less enthusiastic. They spent the next day walking towards the center of the island where Zelas was waiting. Nothing was said, no words could have done anything justice then. Everyone merely walked forward and found the large temple at the center get closer and closer until they were directly upon it.   
  
"This is it Zel..." Lina said.   
  
"It's time to settle this..." He replied, determination written plainly across his face.   
  
Lina found strength in Zel's voice and reinforced her own will, despite the fact that she simply wanted to tremble a little to relieve the stress that was building throughout her body. The group entered the temple and after a bit of walking found themselves face to face with one of the lords of darkness.   
  
Zelas, the Beastmaster. She was as intimidating as Xellos always made her out to be. She was laying on a luxurious sofa, sipping wine when the group entered. She swirled the blood red liquid in the crystal glass as the group neared her position.   
  
When they were finally only ten feet away or so, Lina spoke up.   
  
"Okay, you dragged us out here, now tell me again what it is that you ultimately want from us?" Lina asked in a manner that could almost have been considered condescending.   
  
"I merely want you to join my ranks dear Lina. And with you at my side, then there would ultimately be nothing to stop me from eliminating the other dark lords and claiming what's left of the world for myself." She replied.   
  
Lina was appalled that Zelas wanted to use her like some tool, against L-sama herself! She didn't even get the chance to fume.   
  
A swift chill swept through the air as Zelas bolted off of the sofa and softly cursed as she spotted a figure in a gray cloak on the other side of the room.   
  
"Well, if it isn't the lord of nightmares. What brings you to MY island?" She asked with clear disdain in her voice.   
  
"You know exactly why I am here dear Xelas. I am here to make certain that your plan doesn't easily succeed. I cannot interfere on the mortal plane, just as you can't. Yet there is nothing that says we cannot each choose a champion and let them duel it out in our stead." She replied in a voice that flowed as smoothly as honey and was just as mysterious as it was intoxicating to the mind.   
  
"What are you saying?" Zelas asked again.   
  
"I cannot in good conscience allow you to kill myself or the other dark lords, so I therefore place before you a challenge. Choose your best warrior and I will choose one as well. They will battle until one can no longer move or defend themselves. If you should win, I would allow you to pursue your present course of action, seeing as how I did everything in my power to stop you." L-sama replied.   
  
Lina suddenly stepped forward. "If that is how things go, tell me this, who would each of you choose?" She asked.   
  
"I would choose Xellos of course." Zelas replied.   
  
"I would choose you Lina, for you have always been my champion among the mortals." L-sama answered.   
  
Lina grinned sinisterly, scaring the daylights out of Zelas and drawing a mild grin from L-sama. Zel also caught on and realized what she was up to.   
  
"Let's raise the stakes a little, shall we?" Lina inquired.   
  
"I'm listening." Zelas replied.   
  
"If I win the duel, then you have to free Xellos from all of his bonds to the Mazuko race and you can never claim him again. On the other hand, if I lose, then you would get TWO new recruits...." She trailed off.   
  
  
"If Lina loses, then she and I both would willingly submit to your control. The only catch to the whole deal on us losing is that we would remain together." Zel finished.   
  
Zelas's smile suddenly grew from ear to ear. L-sama merely shrugged the comment off.   
  
Zelas turned the deal over and over inside her head, weighing the possible losses and gains. She finally looked L-sama in the eye.   
  
"You have a deal." She replied.   
  
"Very well then, the battle will begin tomorrow shortly after dawn. It will be held in front of the temple." L-sama decreed. Then she turned to Lina's group.   
  
"You must be tired from your journey, please follow me and I will provide with a place to spend the night." She spoke gently.   
  
The group turned and followed her out of the temple.   
  
"I can't believe the opportunity that just threw itself into my lap!" Zelas nearly screamed. "Xellos!" She beckoned.   
  
"Yes master?" He answered.   
  
"You will fight Lina tomorrow morning and if you win, they will give themselves to us freely. Their only concession is that they remain together, but since they'll both be my servants I'm willing to let that part of the deal slide. After all, with both of them on my side, one won't feel obligated to take it easy on the pathetic mortal realm. This is too perfect!" She shouted.   
  
"I will defeat them master." Xellos replied. "They have never been stronger than me. No matter how hard they train or however many new tricks they might learn, they will never best me." Xellos finished.   
  
"You have the remainder of the evening off Xellos. Get some rest, I want you in peak condition for your battle tomorrow." Zelas ordered.   
  
"Understood master, I shall retire immediately." He replied and vanished.   
  
Zelas merely smiled and returned to her wine sipping, only now she wore one the biggest smirks ever to cross her face.   
  
  
The group was walking away from the temple when Lina finally got up the nerve to actually speak to the lord of nightmares.   
  
"Why didn't you react when I raised the stakes? I could have sworn you would be angry with me." She started softly.   
  
The blonde woman turned to face the red-haired sorceress. Her grey cloak hid all but the tresses of her hair and her rosy lips. "Because I was hoping you would do exactly that Lina. I've been trying to find a way to get Xellos away from Zelas so he can start living his life again before it was so rudely taken away long ago. You merely accomplished what Zelas would otherwise have thought was a somewhat dangerous scenario." She explained.   
  
Lina blinked. "You mean, you KNEW?" She asked.   
  
The woman merely smiled and continued to walk away from the temple.   
  
  
  
The next morning.......   
  
Lina was sitting up around the campfire. Sunrise was less than an hour away, and the tension had only continued to build. She was scared, that much was certain. She had never really had a REAL fight with Xellos because it was commonly known that he had power to burn. He had always been the strongest of them, even though he never worked out or practiced any magic. She had faced down some of the strongest creatures on the rim and she wasn't sure that any of them had been anywhere CLOSE to matching Xellos. This fight was going to decide the fate of the world, and though she only had one opponent, she knew that this fight was going to drive her beyond any of her previously known limits.   
  
Zel sat up next to her and drew her into a hug.   
  
"You scared?" He asked.   
  
"Absolutely terrified." She replied.   
  
"You hide it well." He answered.   
  
"Sometimes I just want to crawl into a hole and never come back out, but that would never accomplish anything." She continued.   
  
"You're right." He paused. "Lina, I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always love you." He finished.   
  
"Thanks Zel. Now then, let's go eat a big breakfast!" She cheerily cried.   
  
Zel smiled and got up to follow her.   
  
The group was already at Zela's temple awaiting the two combatants. Somehow, Lina managed to talk them into having breakfast before the fate of the world was decided.   
  
  
Finally, when all was said and done, it was time to start.   
  
Zelas put her arms into the air and formed the stone beneath everyone's feet into a raised fighting ring. The ring was basically a square that was twenty meters long on each side. The floor was tiled, but it had a rough texture to it when examined closely.   
  
"There are five rules. Rule one; weapons are allowed, but not required. Rule two; you may under no circumstances kill your opponent. Rule three; if you fall out of the ring, you have ten seconds to get back into the ring, otherwise your opponent gets free shot at you. Rule four, Magic of all types is acceptable. And rule five; no outside help is allowed." She concluded.   
  
Xellos suddenly stepped forward. "Master, if I may add one rule to that list?" He asked.   
  
"You may." She replied.   
  
Xellos looked straight at Lina. "There is to be no teleporting, but super speed is allowed." He answered.   
  
Everyone gasped in unison, including Zelas.   
  
"I want to defeat Lina, for once, fair and square. This way she will not be able to argue otherwise, which I'm sure she would if all I did was avoid her and then knock her out when she was exhausted. It would completely disgust me to even think of using such an advantage in a duel of this caliber. Lina deserves the right to see how good she is, and I for one and not going to stop her." He concluded.   
  
Zel couldn't help but let small grin grace his features. "Perhaps he still has a small part of his humanity in him, Lina was not mistaken after all." He thought to himself.   
  
Zelas reluctantly agreed to the final rule and the two fighters stepped into the ring.   
  
  
The two fighters circled each other for a few minutes; Lina with a fireball in her left hand and Xellos with a ball of dark energy in his right. What happened next could only be described as unbelievable.   
  
Lina and Xellos let their attacks go at the same moment. The balls impacted each other and exploded. The two fighters vanished and reappeared in the wake of the explosion they had caused, their forearms locked in a battle of strength and will. Xellos had the strength while Lina had the will. They separated and landed about thirty feet away from each other.   
  
"You've gotten a lot stronger Lina, have you been working out without me knowing about it?" Xellos asked, smiling.   
  
"It would be the only explanation that makes any sense." Lina shot back.   
  
Lina and Xellos started exchanging attacks after that. Balls of fire and arrows of ice met with dark energy of every kind. The two alternated between fist-fighting and using magic, each giving as good as the other. They landed hits as well as took them, both of them fighting with perfect and beautiful rage.   
  
Hours passed as the fight progressed. One.....two.....four.....six...until finally after seven hours of fighting, they began to show signs of extreme fatigue. Both of them were bloody and had numerous cuts and bruises all over their visible body parts. Lina had yet to try the Dragon Slave because she knew it wasn't enough to destroy Xellos, but she had one final trick up her sleeve that only Zel knew about. For it to work though, Xellos would have to be nearly exhausted so he couldn't fight against it. With him under the spell, she would be able to start using white magic spells and wear Xellos down enough so that she could safely knock him out and declare victory, and it seemed Xellos was unaware of her scrutiny the entire time.   
  
Zelas didn't like the looks of things. She was controlling Xellos's body directly and she knew that she wasn't pulling any punches. Yet Lina was matching him blow for blow. She could detect that Xellos was wearing down quickly. As things stood now, she had a fifty-fifty chance of coming out on top. And Zelas didn't like to entrust her plans to the flip of a coin. Her temporary distraction was quickly taken advantage of.   
  
"AHHH!" Lina yelled as she planted her fist in Xellos's gut and then jack hammered him into the ground. She instantly jumped away and began preparing the spell. Xellos was getting up, but not fast enough. Lina knew he was near the end of his rope and truth be told, so was she. Yet every time she looked in Zel's direction, she would see that gaze filled with strength and love and she would quickly re-double her efforts to keep her promise to her lover.   
  
Zelas watched as the nearly broken body struggled to get up. "He's taking too much time! Inverse is going to get that spell off if I don't hurry things up!" She thought to herself. She hardly had time to gulp when Lina threw her arms forward and Zelas felt the body of her champion freeze in mid-motion. Lina looked almost completely exhausted, with very little power left. However, at the moment, she looked to be holding the key to victory in her hands.   
  
"The paralyzing spell, I thought she would do that." Zel thought aloud.   
  
"What kind of spell is that?" Filia asked.   
  
"It paralyzes one's opponent for a couple of hours, holding them in whatever position the victim happens to be in. The spell eventually wears off, but I think Lina may have just won the fight." Zel admitted.   
  
Zelas was fuming inside at having to lose her greatest general in over four thousand years. She silently grinned and gave Xellos control of his body again. Instantly, the general and high priest let out a scream of pain as Lina walked up to him and cast Recovery on his chest wounds. Rather than closing them up like it would to a normal person, Xellos's wounds grew bigger and more blood flowed from them in response to the pure magic running through his dark body.   
  
"Do you yield?" Lina asked, extinguishing the spell. Xellos merely looked her in the eye with nothing but pure rage flowing through him. "I will never give in to a mortal like you!" He yelled as the agonizing pain returned.   
  
Lina finally stopped the spell and let Xellos merely hang limp from the excruciating pain that saturated every part of his body. She turned to Zelas and put her hands on her hips, preparing to announce that she had won. Lina couldn't even smirk in triumph before the unthinkable happened.   
  
Zelas disappeared! Lina suddenly heard a growl of rage behind her, and whipped around to see what was going on. Her breath instantly caught in her throat.   
  
Zelas was holding an enchanted dagger at Zel's throat. One which most certainly would pierce his stone skin as easily as a regular blade cut through flesh.   
  
"I ALWAYS get what I want! Now Lina, if you would so kindly come over here and kneel before your new master, we'll get to...." Zelas was cut off as she felt a stone elbow in your abdomen. She got the breath knocked out of her, but nothing more. Zel was preparing to leap away when he felt the blade pierce his chest and be ripped out sideways.   
  
Lina literally became a blur of light. She managed to catch your husband as he fell to his knees, her hands becoming stained with the blood of the man she loved.   
  
"ZEL!.....ZEL DON'T LEAVE!!!.....PLEASE!!!" She wailed as she felt the life in her arms start to slip away.   
  
"Don't worry about me love.....just make her pay...." Zel managed to gasp out, bringing blood along with it.   
  
She looked into his eyes, and to her surprise, they looked to be at a deeper peace than Zel had ever known. She had experienced that once before, when she died against Rezo's copy, she had been brought back though.   
  
The thought never crossed Lina's mind that Sylphiel could bring Zel back just as easily.   
  
"I'll wait for you..." He said as his head went limp as well as his hand that had found its way to her cheek.   
  
Zelas was enjoying the meal, but she had bigger fish to fry.   
  
"Now then, to discuss the terms of..." She began to go on about how since Lina was all alone again that she should join the mazuko and help Zelas conquer the world.   
  
Her statements fell on ears that might as well have been deaf.   
  
"How.....dare.....you..." Lina started, sobs choking her words off. Zelas immediately stopped in the middle of her speech.   
  
"HOW DARE YOU!?!??" Lina shouted with a ferocity that shook Zelas to her very core. Lina threw her own sanity out the window as she let 'it' take control for the third time in her life. It came rather easily this time.   
  
Zelas looked on in utter terror as Lina's eyes became completely red. The white parts at the edges vanished and her pupils became coals stoking the fires of all nine hells that now raged within her eyes.   
  
Lina threw her head back and let out an animalistic cry of rage that shook the very base of the island deep within the ocean. She saw before her Zelas, her mortal enemy, the person that had called forth this power she now wielded. Her eyes narrowed and Zelas, for the first time in her existence, felt true and genuine fear.   
  
"Now you die." Lina stated. She disappeared in the blink of an eye and sent her fist straight into Zelas's gut. Zelas also felt pain for the first time as well when that same punch rammed home. Lina kicked Zelas back another hundred yards and started to slowly walk towards her with the glazed look of death in that fearsome gaze.   
  
Zelas slowly reeled herself back in and realized that Lina was no longer just a potential recruit, but a serious threat that could only be dealt with in one manner. She snapped her fingers and an explosion engulfed Lina on all sides.   
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers when the sorceress merely strolled out of the inferno without a scratch on her.   
  
When Lina had finally closed the distance, she spoke. "And now, it begins."   
  
What followed was the first relatively even battle between a mortal and a lord of darkness. The amount of energy given off was inconceivable on both sides, but still they fought. Pain, hunger, and thirst suddenly became nothing more than a single drop of rain in a thunderstorm. All that mattered to either of the women was the wild frenzy of blows given and taken and the desire to go on and on, fighting for no other reason than to try and forget their losses and decide what was to happen next through their conflict.   
  
When it all boiled down to the nitty gritty, Zelas was a lord of darkness and had a much greater reserve to draw from than Lina. Lina began to tire while Zelas kept going, and not even her great rage could fuel Lina enough to override true exhaustion.   
  
Some time later, Lina was pummeled into the ground and couldn't bring herself to get up anymore. She was suddenly brought back to reality when Zelas wrapped her hands around Lina's neck and pulled her from the ground.   
  
"Any last words before I send you to meet your lover?" She asked. Lina had nothing left to say, she had failed. Zelas released her grip on Lina's neck with the full intention of kicking her hard enough to split her body in two and would have succeeded........   
  
......if another foot hadn't met with the left side of her jaw and knocked her back several meters!   
  
Lina also would have struck the ground, but was caught an instant later. Her exhausted body hardly had enough energy to open her eyes.   
  
"I don't want any knight in shining armor......I want my Zel....." she thought sadly as her eyes began to water. It was only after all this that she realized the arms that were holding her were made of stone....   
  
Her head snapped up so fast that she almost whip-lashed herself! She came eye to eye with her husband. He was still wearing the bloody clothing, but Lina didn't care.   
  
"I take it I owe Sylphiel and Amelia a really big favor?" She asked, her exhaustion evident in her voice. Zel merely nodded.   
  
"I'll finish this one for you love, rest now." He replied as Lina's head fell to his chest, trying to snuggle a little closer.   
  
Meanwhile, Zelas was on her last set of legs, getting up slowly. Zel regarded her with a look of pure hatred. Then he grinned darkly, knowing he would have to unveil his biggest secret from his journey to the rim. Something Lina still pestered him about, trying to get him to teach her.   
  
Of course, he had never used it on a lord of darkness, but the principle was essentially the same. Zel walked towards Amelia and Sylphiel, his emotionless mask falling into place once again. He gently set Lina before the two white mages and caressed the side of her face once more before turning back to the task at hand.   
  
"Make certain that Zelas does not attack her." He let emotion begin to fill his voice for the first time in a long time.   
  
He normally tried to remain cold during battle, but this attack would require half of his soul to be suppressed and let the other side have dominant control. The only problem was that he had to suppress almost all evil within him, and though it took some doing, he had mastered his darker side. Now he stood before the dark lord Zelas, protecting the person he loved most.   
  
  
Zelas was finally on her feet and stared at Zel.   
  
"I knew I should have taken out that damn shrine maiden while I had the chance." She started.   
  
Zel smirked and disappeared.   
  
The next thing Zelas felt was a punch right in her gut. She doubled over in pain, putting her arms in front of her belly protectively. She glanced up and saw Zel, grinning at her like it was nobody's business.   
  
"So.....you've gotten a little faster......no matter..." She gasped out as she directed a punch up into his own abdomen, but meeting nothing but air. She was shocked to say the least. She couldn't sense the speedy chimera either, until his knee connected with her jaw!   
  
She stumbled backwards, her sudden onset of fear growing by the moment. She saw the chimera perform a flip while simply floating in the air, as if under water. Strangely, he wasn't using any normal magic spell to levitate his body. His feet connected with her jaw a second time after he finished the flip, using the momentum to deliver a maiming blow to the Beastmaster. Zelas could no longer hold herself up at that moment and she fell to one knee.   
  
"How did he get so strong?" Zelas thought to herself as she felt Zel start landing punch after punch across on her upper torso, leaving small fist-sized craters where his punches connected.   
  
Finally, the chimera landed another uppercut on the right side of her face and she flew backwards, landing about thirty meters from Zel.   
  
When she finally managed to regain her footing, her mind was racing.   
  
"How can he be doing this? A mere mortal has never been able to match the power of the lords of darkness!" She thought to herself. Her anger reached its peak and she let out a blood-curdling scream that forced everyone to cover their ears.   
  
"I am the Beastmaster Zelas! I WILL not, CANNOT be DEFEATED!" She shouted as she charged at the chimera. As she reared back her right arm for an earth-shattering punch, Zel made his move.   
  
"Here goes nothing...." Zel thought to himself as he started to charge up for the attack. Zelas was charging towards him and falling right into the palm of his hand. His right hand started to sparkle as he started to sweat from the effort. Finally, a small white flash emanated from his fist and he simply threw his arm forward in a sideways motion like a pitcher in the game of baseball. All that emerged from his hand was a small ball of sparkles that went straight through the Beastmaster's chest, leaving no hole or visible injury of any kind.   
  
Her fist connected square with Zel's face, knocking his head back sharply. Zelas stared at him with complete incomprehension until she felt a fire start to build in her chest right where her heart should have been.   
  
"What did you do to me?" She asked as the pain intensified every instant.   
  
"Nothing much actually. That was nothing more than the first and to date only attack that is based from white magic." He replied.   
  
"What in the nine hells...?" Was all she had time to think of.   
  
The Beastmaster's back suddenly exploded from within in a shower of sparkles.   
  
Her scream was deafening at the pain inflicted on her. The sparkles slowly started to consume her entire body, eating away at her being like acid eats away at metal.   
  
Everyone on the battlefield watched in stunned silence as Zelas slowly was consumed by the power of the evil within her own heart. Her body grew smaller and smaller and eventually every piece was consumed by the mysterious array of sparkles.   
  
Zel only had time to smirk before he took leave of his senses and fell to the ground face first.   
  
Everyone, Lina included, had never run so fast in their lives.   
  
They reached him and managed to roll him over. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even, showing that he was just spent from the attack. Lina knelt down and picked up her husband's limp body and brought him into her lap, hugging him with genuine affection.   
  
"It's finally over Zel." Lina whispered into his ear.   
  
"I know." He replied, speaking so softly even Lina had trouble hearing it.   
  
"Congratulations." L-sama replied. Lina nodded and let Amelia and Sylphiel start casting more healing spells on Zel to help revive him so that they could get down to more important matters.   
  
The entire group returned to the temple of the recently deceased Beastmaster to find her high priest and general lying unconscious on the platform that had served as the ring for Lina's first bout. Everyone watched as the lord of nightmares slowly walked up to him and placed her left hand on his head and her right across his back.   
  
"By the power I possess,   
I free you from your bonds.   
Bonds to your body,   
Bonds to your soul,   
Now and forever broken, you are free."   
  
As the blonde woman recited the spell, Xellos began to glow an eerie shade of white. It surrounded his entire body and at first it was only on the surface of his skin, but soon the light penetrated to his very core, cleansing his soul of every bit of evil that Zelas had inflicted upon him.   
  
When the lord of nightmares had completed the spell, the audible sound of chains breaking could be heard deep within the minds of everyone present, and as the snapping of metal bands grew less and less, Xellos stood up and opened his ancient set of cobalt blue eyes that had been banished from his form over a millennia ago. He slowly walked back towards the group behind L-sama, looking something like a lost, wandering child.   
  
His eyes may have changed, but his voice hadn't. "I want to thank you Lina, and you Zelgadiss, for freeing me. You don't have any idea how annoying it is to have to keep everything a secret. I wanted so many times to just shout out to all of you what was really going on, but she wouldn't let me. And when I didn't do as she asked, she simply took control of me. Maybe now I can get back to my life, though my family is long gone as well as everything else I worked to achieve in my first life." He explained.   
  
L-sama spoke up suddenly. "I have but one more thing to say before I leave you all." She turned to Xellos. "You still have most of your mazuko powers. You can teleport and you have your superhuman abilities as well. Although now you will have to eat like a normal person again as well." She explained.   
  
"Thanks for everything L-sama, if you ever need my assistance in the future, I'll be at your service." He answered.   
  
"No, I plan on letting you try to get your life back together. I have no intentions of calling upon you for a long while." She concluded.   
  
"However..." She continued, glancing at Lina and Zel. "...we will have to talk someday soon about your role in the future. Until we meet again!" She finished and vanished into mid-air.   
  
  
  
Xellos teleported everyone back to the port city of Avernus so that they could go their separate ways. The group had gathered for one final meal together before they would part ways in the morning.   
  
"I still can't believe all that's happened..." Amelia trailed off.   
  
"Neither can I..." Xellos said between mouthfuls of food. Xellos had indeed impressed everyone with his vigor for eating, he was definitely third in line behind Gourry and Lina.   
  
"Where will you two go Lina?" Gourry asked.   
  
"Zel and I plan on going back out to the rim. It seems that it paid pretty well to explore uncharted territory and we always get first dibs on any treasure we find!" She replied cheerfully.   
  
"Sanjuro and I plan on going back to Saillune and start rebuilding. It's going to be a long time before we fully recover, but we should get started just the same." Amelia continued.   
  
"Gourry and I are going to stay in Saillune for while with Amelia and her family since there aren't that many people left in Sairaag to help rebuild the city." Sylphiel replied.   
  
"Martina's estate wasn't hit too hard, so I suppose we'll go back home and repair whatever damages we find." Zangulus added.   
  
The next sentence spoken at the table stunned them all.   
  
"What do you plan on doing Xellos?" Filia asked. Jaws simultaneously hit the table.   
  
Xellos was rather stumped by the question, but answered just the same.   
  
"I'm going to see if I can dig up anything that could be left of my old life. I may find something to do between here and there, but otherwise I have nothing planned. I may even just travel like Lina and Zel, trying to set right what I've done wrong." He replied.   
  
As if that weren't enough, Filia floored everyone yet again.   
  
"You're welcome at our cottage if you eventually find yourself with nowhere else to go......" Filia started.   
  
Xellos lightly glanced back in her direction. "Thanks......Filia-chan!" He replied breaking out into a huge grin. Which of course resulted in another pummeling from Filia's mace, only this time, Xellos didn't get up as quickly as he used to.   
  
Filia never once made any indications that she had withdrawn her offer.   
  
"I have an idea." Zel spoke up. Everyone looked up in his direction.   
"Well, it seems rather odd that all this would happen an even ten years after we parted ways the first time, so I believe that we should make it our little tradition to have a reunion every ten years or so." He explained.   
  
"That's a great idea Mr. Zelgadiss!" Amelia echoed. Everyone nodded in agreement.   
  
"So it's agreed, when ten years have passed, me and Zel will return from the rim and stop by Saillune first and from there we can take a breather and invite everyone for a visit for a few weeks!" Lina started.   
  
Everyone agreed, slowly realizing that this little group had now grown into an extended family. Everyone at the table wished that time would freeze so that they could enjoy this moment just a little longer. Sadly, it wasn't to be.   
  
The group parted ways the next morning outside the inn that they had stayed at the night before.   
  
"So I guess we'll see everyone in about ten years?" Lina asked hesitantly as she gave everyone a goodbye hug.   
  
Zel was giving handshakes to Gourry, Zangulus, and Xellos before he left.   
  
Gourry suddenly spoke up. "Take care of her for me, will you?"   
  
Zel smiled. "You know I will Gourry."   
  
Gourry suddenly pulled out a small package and handed it to Zel.   
  
"Tell Lina that this is for her. I don't think I'm going to be needing it for a while, and it'll come in handy where you two are going." He said before Zel tucked it away in the folds of his cloak.   
  
"I think I know what it is, and if I'm right, then she's going to be ecstatic for the next two weeks." He replied, grinning as wide as Gourry had ever seen.   
  
The group parted ways soon after. Xellos and Filia headed for her cottage so Xellos could first get used to living in the mortal world again. Sylphiel, Gourry, Martina, Zangulus, Sanjuro, Amelia, and all their kids headed for Saillune so that they could start rebuilding the decimated city.   
  
Just as Amelia and the others reached the crest of the hills that were just outside of Avernus, a yell unlike any other rang out from the other side of the city from a certain ecstatic red-haired sorceress.   
  
"THANK YOU GOURRY GABRIEV!!!"   
  
Even from that distance, everyone cringed at the shear volume of it.   
  
"I take it she liked your present?" Sylphiel asked innocently.   
  
"You think so?" Gourry echoed.   
  
It took everything everyone had not to burst out laughing.   
With all that had happened recently, it wasn't that odd when they failed miserably.   
  
  
  
Ten Years Later.....   
  
"Lina, why exactly are we going to Sylphiel's first? I thought you said that we would meet up with Amelia and Sanjuro first and then invite everyone else..." Zel questioned.   
  
"Listen Zel, I want to visit with her for one. Secondly, do you honestly think that with an entourage in front of the castle that we would be able to get inside to see the two of them when they're entertaining guests? And finally, I have a favor to ask of her..." She replied.   
  
"What favor would that be?" Her husband asked.   
  
"You'll just have to wait and find out!" Lina replied as she smiled and latched on to her husband's arm in her almost traditional manner. Zel smiled and simply decided to leave it at that.   
  
They arrived at Sylphiel's and Gourry's second home in Saillune. Their first was still currently being rebuilt in Sairaag. Lina cheerfully knocked on the door and waited for the lady of the house to answer. The door slowly opened to reveal Filia!   
  
"OH! Lina, it's so good to see you after all of these years!" She nearly screamed. Sylphiel soon appeared right behind her as the dragon priestess hugged the daylights out of the sorceress.   
  
"OH! Lina's back for the reunion and the wedding!" Sylphiel shouted.   
  
Lina and Zelgadiss found themselves on strangely familiar ground.   
  
So they blinked......twice.   
  
"Who's left to get married?" Lina thought aloud.   
  
Xellos appeared at the front door. "Oh, Lina! Nice to see you got the invitation, I was worried that it wouldn't get out that far to you!" He started.   
  
Zel spoke up. "Enough with the suspense already. No, I'm afraid we didn't get the invitation. So who is getting married?" He asked.   
  
"Why me and Filia-chan of course!" Xellos replied.   
  
Lina and Zel could only stare in silence.   
  
"I guess that was a little too much for them at one time." Val started as he came out the door. The boy still only looked ten because of the fact that the ancient dragons aged rather slowly, even in childhood.   
  
Zel was the first to recover and started to lightly shake Lina back into consciousness.   
  
"Well, though unexpected, I wish you both luck." He replied sincerely.   
  
"Yeah!" Lina echoed. "Congratulations you two!" She finished.   
  
The group was led inside by Sylphiel who immediately went into the kitchen to make some tea.   
  
"Sylphiel..." Lina started.   
  
Sylphiel jumped, clearly startled.   
  
"Ye...Yes, Lina?" She asked.   
  
"I need you to check something out for me and it has to do with something rather important. Could we go somewhere private and talk?" She asked hesitantly.   
  
Sylphiel nodded. "We'll use my room upstairs, follow me." She started. "So what's so important Lina?" She continued.   
  
Lina hesitated, but not for long. "Well, for the past month or so, I've been really sick to my stomach and having these really weird cravings..." Her voice trailed off as the two disappeared up the flight of stairs.   
  
Meanwhile, Zel was downstairs catching up on old times with Filia and Xellos and becoming acquainted with their soon-to-be adopted son, Val. No one ever noticed the teapot on the stove whistling until Sylphiel took it off the stove some thirty minutes after she had went upstairs with Lina.   
  
For some strange reason, she wore a hapless grin on her face for the rest of the evening. It was almost a mirror image of her husband's, but she had a rather good reason to be smiling like she was.   
  
  
  
One week later.....   
  
"Well Lina, I must say your visit was rather sudden, but thankfully it was near the end of that conference between Saillune and Sairaag. Otherwise, we might have had to skip out on the reunion!" Amelia explained.   
  
"I'm sorry to have put that on you. But hey, we're here now, so why worry about it?" She asked, drawing a grin from her old student mage.   
  
They slowly walked over to where the group was seated and awaiting Lina and Amelia to raise their glasses.   
  
Only one word seemed to come to mind, and strangely enough, everyone knew it.   
  
"CHEERS!" The group shouted.


	4. Life Goes On

Life Goes On  
By David Goldsmith  
  
(A continuation of: Hope and Love....Death and Rebirth )  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers in any way, form, or fashion. I am simply using the characters created by someone else to create a work of fiction that I hope other will enjoy. Leave a review if you like the story, leave one if you don't, but I crave feedback in any form! (It's a new addiction, honest it is!)   
  
Author's Note: Well, people have informed me that they want to see Ryo and Katherine take on the world.....so here is the next installment of "Hope and Love....Death and Rebirth!" The first part will deal primarily addressing the relationship between Amelia and Sanjuro, since someone wanted to know more about how they got together. After that, it's time to welcome some new arrivals into the world! I am going to start calling ALL of the kids by name!   
  
Lina: Enough with this already David! Quit with all the explanations, pass out the ammunition, and let's GO TO WAR!!  
  
David: (sweatdrops) O....kay.......little help here  
  
Zel: Lina.....behave.  
  
Lina: You're such a spoil sport! (Pouts)  
  
Zel: And then some.....  
  
David: And now........ON WITH THE SHOW!!  
  
  
  
Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune looked out the window of her newly rebuilt palace. Everything was going great and had been for the past two years since the reunion where Lina had announced her pregnancy. Amelia heard her little troublemakers start to cry and went in their general direction to see what was wrong.  
  
"I never thought I would have TWINS..." Amelia thought to herself, remembering the shock that she had gone through when the midwife told her she had another baby to deliver. She had a boy and girl, and both were just as precious as little babies could be.  
  
She had named the boy Phillip after her father, while Sanjuro had named the girl Callie after his best friend in childhood that had died when she was just six.   
  
Phillip was almost a carbon copy of his grandfather with the same color hair and eyes, but he was much calmer than Amelia had ever thought possible.   
  
Callie was the bright and cheerful one of the duo, exuding an aura of happiness and cheer than was second to none. Her blond hair practically shined when the sun hit it, and her eyes were pale blue.   
  
Kethry was away with her father in Sairaag attending another conference so that the city could officially declare that its doors were once again open to all so that they could start rebuilding and restoring the city's trade and commerce.  
  
Amelia eventually found the twins playing a spirited game of tag in the library, but Callie had bumped her head a little too hard on a bookcase and was in tears. Phillip was kneeling next to his twin sister and trying to console her as best he could, but was about to burst into tears himself when he saw his mother.   
  
"Mommy! Callie bumped her head!" The small child explained. Amelia walked towards them and brought her hand to Callie's forehead where a bruise had already formed.  
  
She chanted the familiar recovery spell and Callie brightened up immensely.   
  
"Thank you mommy!" The girl nearly shouted with glee, feeling much better. Amelia only nodded.   
  
"Now what have I told you two about running around in the library?" She asked patiently.   
  
"That we shouldn't do it because we could break something or hurt ourselves..." The pair recited in unison.  
  
"Very good, but I don't think that's a mistake you're going to repeat anytime soon. Now how about we go read a story! I'll even let you two pick it out." Amelia explained.   
  
The twins jumped for joy and followed their mother deeper into the library. Amelia eventually came to a rather large fireplace with a few sitting chairs and let the twins plop down in front of one of the chairs as she went to the nearby bookcase that held a copy of nearly every fairy tale in the entire kingdom.   
  
"What's it going to be you two?" She asked. Amelia was still amazed at how much enjoyment the twins got out of simply hearing a story being read to them. She also recalled that they loved the stories about their Aunt Lina and Uncle Zel most of all.   
  
"Hey mommy, tell us the story about you and daddy again..." Phillip silently requested.  
  
Amelia smiled. She adored at how the twins wanted to know how their parents were before they were born. She simply moved back towards the chair, she didn't need any book for this story.   
  
As she settled into the chair, she let the memories overtake her and began her story.  
  
"When I first met your father, it was on a day much like this one. It was sunny and bright outside and the birds seemed to sing everywhere you went......  
  
  
(Flashback Begins)  
  
Amelia was standing at the gates to the royal palace, looking overly depressed. She was all dressed up and standing next to her father as she awaited the arrival of a prospective husband. It was no secret that she didn't like meeting two different men every week, but her father was paramount on finding someone for his youngest daughter.   
  
Amelia was beside herself at the moment, thinking about the man she thought that she loved more than anything.   
  
"Mr. Zelgadiss, why don't you ever visit me so I can tell you how I feel?" She thought to herself as the entourage pulled up. She was impressed to see that the prince himself was riding his own horse and not dressed up as if he was going to a ball.   
  
She was rather stunned when he simply walked up and introduced himself.  
  
"Good day, I'm Sanjuro. It's an honor to meet you." He started, sounding rather jovial about the whole experience.   
  
Amelia had expected a prince with a 'holier than thou' attitude that rode in a carriage where nothing could blemish him. This was a totally new experience for her.  
  
"I'm Amelia, and it's nice to meet you too." She started, thinking that since he wasn't using any formalities, it wouldn't matter if she did the same.   
  
"Your majesty..." Sanjuro bowed to Amelia's father. "Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to meet your daughter." He continued.   
  
Phil smiled. He had been hoping for such an event.   
  
"It's no problem at all, your father and I go way back lad. I figured that since we were introducing Amelia to all the other princes in the region that I'd add your name to the list." He explained.   
  
Amelia cringed. She didn't like being treated like a piece of meat to be fought over and impressed by others, but she suddenly realized something. All the other suitors had immediately addressed themselves and tried to impress her with their prestige. Meanwhile, this guy had simply introduced himself and in no way had made it known that he was competing for her hand.   
  
"Maybe he's not that bad, but I'm still going to wait for Mr. Zelgadiss to resurface so that I can try to tell him how I feel, but until then..." She started. "... this Sanjuro seems like a nice guy to be friends with." She finished.   
  
The next month or two flew by as Amelia spent her time in the company of Sanjuro. She learned a lot about him and he learned just as much about her. Amelia found herself drawn to him in such a manner that was completely unexplainable and she found her love for Zelgadiss to be dwindling, but her pride made her think of him every time Sanjuro got too close for comfort.  
  
Then the unthinkable happened. Sanjuro confronted her one night in the library while she was in her favorite chair reading one of her favorite books.   
  
"Amelia..." Sanjuro started.   
  
Amelia looked at him in the shadows, wondering what was on her friend's mind.   
  
"...I was wondering.....what are hiding from me?" He asked softly.   
  
"What do you mean?" She asked, feeling a chill sweep down her spine.  
  
"I mean that you seem to be holding yourself back over something, or is it someone?" He asked.   
  
Amelia froze, not knowing what to think.  
  
"I recognize a lot of things in you Amelia. I was once the same way about another woman. She acted like she loved me, and she did to a certain degree. Only her heart truly belonged to someone else, someone that came back and took her away from me. I was left alone to wonder what I had done wrong. So I'm asking you, what are you hiding from me?" He explained.   
  
Amelia bit her tongue. He wasn't anywhere near as dense as she had originally thought all princes to be.  
  
"You know that I used to travel with Lina Inverse, correct?" She asked.   
  
Sanjuro only nodded.  
  
"Did I ever tell you about a man called Zelgadiss?" She asked, knowing the answer to her own question. Sanjuro shook his head in a negative response.   
  
"Well, Mr. Zelgadiss and I were the white and shamanistic mages in our group. I originally felt a little intimidated by him, but as I got to know him, he seemed to be all I had ever wanted. As time passed, I found myself more and more attracted to him. Soon I realized that I was in love with him, and though he never said it out loud, I know that he feels the same way." She started.  
  
It's been about two years now since he left our group after the Dark Star incident, and I don't know if he still feels the same about me. I want to believe that he still loves me, but I feel at the same time that I shouldn't hurt you by leading you on. You're a good friend Sanjuro, and I'm sure you'll make a good husband for some princess. But before we progress any further in our relationship, I'd like the opportunity to see if I can win Mr. Zelgadiss's heart. If you'll just wait for a while, then we'll find out which way we can go with this..." She finished.   
  
Sanjuro nodded. "I appreciate your concern about hurting me. I'll give you that chance that you want because......I love you enough to want you to be happy." He admitted.   
  
Amelia blushed in response and walked over to him. "I need a favor of you now." She began. "In order to send out a messenger, we need to have a valid reason. So if you'll agree to it, then we could announce our engagement and not set a date and wait for Mr. Zelgadiss to show up. When he and I have decided what to do, we'll go from there. Is that fair enough?" She asked, hoping he would go along with it.   
  
"I'll help you." Sanjuro started. "This Zelgadiss must be a really nice guy for you to go to such lengths for him." He continued.   
  
Amelia nodded. "He's one of the three men I would die for at this moment." She concluded.  
  
Sanjuro looked confused. "Your father is one of those three, Zelgadiss the other...." He thought aloud.   
  
"Who's the other man?" He asked. Amelia gently squeezed his hand and looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. Her eyes sparkled like never before as Sanjuro suddenly realized what she meant.  
  
In that instant, Sanjuro knew that he loved Amelia. She would choose to die for him because she cared about him that much. He silently hugged her and then turned to leave the library.   
  
Amelia, for once, couldn't bring herself to think of Zelgadiss. In that moment, there was only Sanjuro.  
  
  
  
A few weeks later.......   
  
Amelia watched as she saw the dispatched messenger return on his brown mare. She smiled knowing that he would only return if he had succeeded in finding Zelgadiss and Lina.   
  
"It won't be long now..." She thought aloud.  
  
Silently, Sanjuro watched her from the doorway, his heart aching at the obvious cheer that sang in Amelia's veins at the prospect of seeing Zelgadiss again.   
  
Even though he had never met Zelgadiss, he was both envious and jealous of the man who had managed to steal Amelia's heart without apparently trying at all. He turned and walked back towards his room. When he locked his door behind him, tears found their way to his eyes and he found himself silently wishing that Zelgadiss wouldn't steal away the woman that he loved so much.  
  
  
Five days later......  
  
"Her majesty Princess Amelia requests your presence in the royal study shortly after the sun sets." The guard stated as he informed the blue-skinned chimera of Amelia's request.   
  
"Inform her that I will be waiting." He replied.   
  
The guard nodded and went to relay the news to the princess.   
  
  
  
Later that night......  
  
Sanjuro was about as nervous as he could ever remember being. He could just picture it now. Amelia in Zelgadiss's arms, walking into the room and telling him that they were still in love and that they were getting married. He couldn't bring himself to hope for the impossible, since Amelia had told him every time that she was certain that Zelgadiss loved her.   
  
It had been over two hours since she had gone to meet with Zelgadiss in the study and finally, he succumbed to his curiosity and started of in that direction to check on how things had transpired.   
  
When he arrived at the door, he almost felt sick to his stomach. When he opened that door, there would be on turning back from the horror he was sure would come. He would lose another woman he had come to love. Only this time, he feared for his sanity if the one he loved left him for another.   
  
With an unknown burst of courage, he cracked the door open to hear sniffles and small sobs. His heart fervently hoped they were sobs of pain instead of joy. He slowly made his way over to the fireplace and when all that separated him and Amelia was one lone bookcase, he took a steadying breath.  
  
The thought never crossed his mind that Amelia's voice was the only one present the entire time he had been listening.   
  
He slowly stepped out from behind the bookcase and for a moment, he thought he was in heaven.   
  
Amelia was on her knees, crying. And she was alone.   
  
He approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her. When he finally came close enough, he sat down beside her and gently placed his arm over her shoulder.   
  
Amelia looked at him but a moment before she buried herself in his chest, sobbing again. With time, she eventually calmed down enough to talk. Sanjuro was shocked speechless the whole time.  
  
"He never loved me, he only thought of me as his little sister..." She started.  
  
"It's alright, everything will be fine." Sanjuro thought aloud. Amelia suddenly looked up into his eyes. She had looked into Sanjuro's eyes before and they were cobalt blue in the sunlight. Now, in the dark room lit only by a small fire, they were a deep violet. Amelia had never seen a gaze as penetrating as the one Sanjuro was using at that moment.   
  
A realization suddenly washed over Amelia. She had met Sanjuro and became his friend, but deep down, she had always denied herself because she thought that she loved Zelgadiss.   
  
Now, with nothing holding her back, she was overwhelmed with how much she loved the man before her. He treated her as an equal and as a friend before anything else. He had given her the chance to win Zelgadiss's heart despite the pain it brought him. And in that moment, Amelia's defenses crumbled to dust and she admitted it right then and there.  
  
"I love you..." She began. "I've loved you since that first day, but I couldn't bring myself to face the truth.....you were never pushy or demanding. All you wanted was to be my friend before anything else. Then you said you loved me and that threw me off for days, and now that I know what Zelgadiss thinks of me, I can't think of anything else to say..." She explained, stifling a sob.   
  
Sanjuro felt his heart swell with joy at the prospect that the Gods wouldn't tear his heart apart twice in one lifetime. He simply hugged Amelia for all he was worth, in absolute awe at how he felt for the young woman in his arms. They hadn't even known each other for half a year, and yet here they were.   
  
They finally managed to look into each other's eyes once again, and this time there was nothing on their minds but each other. Their lips met in a timid kiss, each not willing to believe that this was actually happening. When they parted, all tears stopped and they kissed again, with untold emotion that had been locked away in both of their hearts for longer than even they could remember.  
The pain that both had previously felt dwindled to nothing at all, and for the longest of times, they couldn't bring themselves to let go of each other.....  
  
(End Flashback)  
  
  
Amelia stared at Callie as he eyes twinkled. Phillip was wide eyed as well, being the hopeless romantic that he was at such a young age.  
  
"That was sweet!" They both stated in unison.   
  
Amelia smiled as the twins were about to get up when another figure spoke up.  
  
  
"After all these years, I'm surprised you remember that night in such vivid detail darling..." Sanjuro said.   
  
"How could I ever forget that?" Amelia asked as her husband lightly placed his hands on her shoulders and planted a kiss on the top of her head.   
  
"What are you doing back today daddy?" Phillip asked.   
  
"Your big sister was more than capable of handling the rest of the conference by herself, so I figured that I'd come back early and surprise everyone!" He explained.  
  
"Hey, are the others coming over for the party dear?" Amelia asked her husband.   
  
"Yeah, but Lina and Zel are still on the rim. There's no way we're going to get a messenger out that far." He explained.   
  
He neglected to mention that Kethry was starting to really like Gourry and Sylphiel's oldest son, Kain. Though she was two years older than him, he was already taller than her and proved to be quite intelligent in his studies.   
  
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Sanjuro thought to himself.   
  
"So they'll all be here next week?" Amelia asked.   
  
"Yeah, everyone except for Lina, Zel, and their kids." He began.   
  
"It'll be nice to meet all of the children at once, though I do wish that Lina and Zel would've stayed and at least let their children be born before they went off to the rim again." Amelia complained.   
  
  
"Well, look on the bright side, in eight years, they'll be here anyway. We've waited ten years before; we'll just have to be patient." Sanjuro replied as he started massaging his wife's tense shoulders.   
  
The twins had long since made a discreet exit, leaving their parents alone. Amelia and Sanjuro took full advantage of the lull in attention.  
  
  
  
One week later......  
  
Amelia sat near the head of the dining room table, taking stock of how many children what couple had and trying to memorize their names. She began again, starting on her right and working her way around the table.  
  
Xellos and Filia had officially adopted Val, who still only looked about twelve. They had also had a little girl whose name was Eleanor. Everyone called her 'Elly', and she had her mother's blond hair as well as her father's cobalt blue eyes.   
  
Elly was two years old and certainly one-of-a-kind in the hybrid category. She had her mother's golden dragon blood, along with her father's mazuko powers. The only thing was, the mazuko powers came at little cost to the girl. She had little trace of mazuko blood in her veins, which meant that she would be able to transform with little pain after she hit puberty. Yet that was what had complicated things.   
  
Filia had nearly died delivering Elly, simply because her body reacted to the mazuko elements in Elly's blood. Xellos was not going to risk losing Filia, so the couple agreed that Xellos would cast a sealing spell on Filia so that she would never be able to have another child. Though they had wanted more, they felt the risk was certainly not worth leaving their kids without a mother.   
  
Martina and Zangulus were finally able to come to another reunion after having missed the previous one and were stunned into silence when everyone told them that Lina was pregnant and that she had probably given birth a year ago.   
  
Martina had another child roughly six years old, and she was the spitting image of her mother. Her name was Danielle and her light green hair was straight, pulled into a neat ponytail and her light blue eyes seemed to sparkle everywhere she went.   
  
Their son, Gabriel, was much like his father at twelve years old. He had a mass of black hair, but unlike his father, he also kept his hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way when he sparred with his father. He was a great swordsman, rivaling his father and perhaps one day, Gourry Gabriev himself.   
  
Gourry and Sylphiel by far had the biggest family among their group. Though the swordsman and his wife hadn't changed much physically, they were now the very responsible parents of three boys and two girls.  
  
Their oldest son, Kain, had dirty blond hair and green eyes at the age of fourteen. He was well built like his father and had taken up being a swordsman as well as a healer, learning small amounts of white magic from his mother. His personality could be described as smug, but he was nice and polite not to mention full of confidence. He was second only to his father in swordsmanship, and a heated rival of Gabriel's.  
  
Their oldest daughter, Rebecca, had been but an infant when Lina and Zel defeated Zelas. She remembered nothing about that horrendous fight, much to her parent's relief. She was the spitting image of her mother though she was much smarter than the rest of her family put together. She was only twelve, but yet she practically handled all of the money within the household. Everyone had been amazed at this, but Rebecca threw it off as child's play since she had an incredible knack for it.   
  
  
Their eight year old son, Garrod, had dark brown hair and green eyes. The bangs hung over his right eye, like his father. He was rather calm and detached half of the time, but proved to be just as good a tactician in battle as his father had been. Gourry hadn't known much, but when he was sword fighting he had been the master of masters. Garrod was much the same way, but he was able to remember stuff far better than his father. He was also capable of adapting to any situation he might come across, a critical and necessary talent.   
  
Their six-year old son had been named after an ancestor of Gourry's that Lina had once told him about. Rowdy wasn't very tall, but he was cheerful and his blue hair was accented nicely by his green eyes. His hair wasn't to his waist as his ancestor's had been, it was cut rather neatly and short with a few bangs hanging over his eyes. Rowdy was incredibly adept at sword fighting for his age and already wore a sword across his back like the Rowdy before him. The only difference was that Rowdy was left-handed instead of right.   
  
Finally, Gourry and Sylphiel had discovered shortly after Lina and Zel left that she had become pregnant yet again with their now two year old daughter, Alicia.   
  
Everyone called her Alice though, and she was as cute as a button. With light golden hair and turquoise eyes, she had taken an early interest in white magic. Her mother had already taught her everything from Recovery to the small scale protection spells. Even at two years of age, she excelled at anything she did.   
  
Amelia finally was able to commit their names to memory and the celebration continued well into the evening until it was time for the kids to all go to bed.   
  
Even Kethry, at sixteen years old, was made to retire so that the adults could have a bit of time together.  
  
  
  
"Kids sure are a handful..." Xellos started.  
  
"For once, I find myself extremely inclined to agree with you darling." Filia echoed.  
  
"Yet the moment they look at you and ask you for something, you just can't bring yourself to say 'no' too often, can you?" Gourry asked. Everyone shook their heads in agreement.   
  
"Everything's almost back to normal around here." Amelia began. "I just wish Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss had been here, I really wanted to meet their kids before they turned ten." She finished.   
  
Everyone in the room suddenly turned their thoughts to the two empty seats that had been purposely left empty the entire evening. All the adults knew who should have been there, but the kids had all been puzzled except for Kethry, who missed her aunt and uncle just as much as the adults missed their friends.  
  
"I wonder what they're up to at this very moment....." Martina thought aloud.  
  
"If I know Lina, then she's probably......." Gourry trailed off.  
  
  
  
  
Somewhere at the edge of known territory.....  
  
"RUN!!" Lina yelled as she turned around and felt the fire singe her clothes as she moved at her best possible speed to make it to the river. Zel was right beside her, carrying Ryo and Kathy under his arms.   
  
The kids were surprisingly calm as Lina and Zel jumped off the edge of the cliff, falling towards the rather deep river about another thousand meters below them.   
  
A wall of flame burst over the cliff edge further into the sky, traveling in a straight line over the edge of the cliff before it finally blew out and disappeared.   
  
Lina and Zel eventually cast levitation and stopped mere inches from the surface of the water. Through all of this, the kids could only stare into space, dumbfounded at what had just happened. They both dared to glance at their mother and found her fuming.   
  
"All right! No more solo ruin exploring for either of you until you learn how to NOT set off EVERY SINGLE booby trap!" She yelled, clearly frustrated beyond belief.   
  
"I would have to agree with your mother; that was rather reckless of both of you." Zel admitted.   
  
The twins hung their heads in shame, but Lina was quick to correct that.   
"Although I have to admit, you two did real well for yourselves until we got to you." She continued.   
  
Zel merely chuckled at the comment. "That they did. What other pair of two-year olds could hold a lower demon at bay and avoid any other traps after they triggered the first ones." He smiled; pleased that neither of them had been seriously hurt, but they needed to learn to wait for Lina and himself to accompany them into unexplored ruins.   
  
Ryo and Kathy's eyes filled with joy that their parents weren't totally ticked off at them.  
  
The family made camp that night along the banks of the river. The children were already used to roughing it almost every night, though they stayed at an inn when they could. After a meal of fresh fish and wild turkey, the group settled down for the night.   
  
Zel leaned up against a tree while Lina snuggled up on his right side. His kids merely made pillows out of their jackets and laid their heads on Zel's left leg, covering up with a blanket.   
  
Lina eventually wiggled her way onto her husband's lap, careful not to disturb the kids, and placed her head right across his shoulder. Lina fell into a deep sleep listening to Zel's steady breathing, wondering what tomorrow would bring.   
  
  
The next day found the Greywords family on the road again towards a town they had heard of that was a little deeper into the territory they were currently exploring.   
  
Zel and Lina found themselves walking down memory lane as they watched Ryo and Kathy run wild around them. The duo ran through bushes, jumped over rocks, and did practically anything there was to do in the forest. All the while, their parents kept a keen eye on them.   
  
"It's so hard to believe how much they've grown these past couple of years." Lina thought aloud.   
  
"I know what you mean. It seems only yesterday that we stayed up late every night holding them in our arms as we slept." He replied.  
  
"Yeah, but I think those months we spent in that old cabin in the mountains were the best time of my life." She continued.   
  
Lina and Zel had found an abandoned cabin in the mountains just inside of the unknown territories. They had spent almost a year and a half there while they had raised the kids to an acceptable level.   
  
They were exceptional kids; already walking, potty trained and the whole nine yards as far as hygiene was concerned. They were also extremely smart, already speaking full sentences and being able to understand half of what was being said between their parents.   
  
That of course had its drawbacks. They hadn't gotten much rest on certain nights and the twins were far harder to handle than your average infants and toddlers. Not to mention there were certain things that had popped up much earlier than the young parents had expected.   
  
Among such 'early horrors' was included the question every parent dreaded.   
  
At the tender age of two, the twins had already asked, "Where do babies come from?" Lina had simply let her jaw hit the ground and let Zel handle the situation.   
  
What he did was actually pretty brilliant, and Lina could hardly contain herself when he glanced at the twins.  
  
  
In a rare moment for his teasing nature, he simply replied, "That....is a secret." The twins had pouted, but their father stood firm in his decision.  
  
It had been two years of sacrifices and tense situations galore, but through it all, they had kept their sanity intact and had managed to teach their kids a lot about life.   
  
Ryo and Kathy, as previously stated, were not your ordinary kids. They could already cast numerous shamanistic and white magic spells, but Lina strictly forbade them to learn any black magic at their current age. Ryo and Kathy had asked her why, but when she gave them 'the look' every question was instantly forgotten in a desperate attempt to preserve their lives.   
  
They had learned later, from their father, that because their mother had been able to cast black magic when she was so young, she had kept herself from 'growing up.'   
  
Zel had asked them if they wanted to remain in a child's body for the next thirty or so years and they hastily replied, "NO WAY!"   
  
The parents quickly drifted back to the present when their kids came up alongside them, noticing the town that was appearing through the trees.  
  
The family got one room, seeing as how the twins could still sleep in the same bed. As everyone settled down for the night, Zel and Lina cuddled together in their bed and whispered so they wouldn't wake the twins up.  
  
"It's been a really interesting two years hasn't it?" Lina asked.   
  
"More so than I could have ever imagined." He replied.   
  
"Do you.....ever regret having the twins?" Lina asked.  
  
"I've lived to regret many things my love, but my family is one thing I will never regret." He answered firmly.  
  
Lina could only hug her husband and fall asleep in his warm embrace, Zel following suit a few minutes later.   
  
When they awoke the next morning, they found the twins between them. Kathy was latched onto Zel while Ryo was firmly attached to Lina. Both Lina and Zel smiled at the cute family picture this would make and went back to sleep, their hands joined together just below their waists.   
  
  
If they thought that the previous two years were a chore, they were in for a pretty big shock.  
  
  
  
Three years later.....  
  
"KATHY!!" Ryo shouted as he slashed through another monster, picking up his sister and helping her to her feet. The boy surveyed the scene quickly, counting another fifteen monsters or so.   
  
His parents were working on about eight of them, with the other seven coming in his general direction. His mother had the sword of light at the ready while his father's sword was glowing red from Astral Vine. Kathy clutched her brother's waist tightly as she watched them close in.   
  
Ryo readied his sword as a plan came to mind. "Kathy, on three, I'm going to throw you in the air. Cast levitation and distract them with a spell of some kind. Hopefully, whatever your spell doesn't get, I will." He explained.   
  
Kathy quickly nodded and grabbed his wrist. Using the strength his father passed to him, Ryo sent his sister a good twenty meters into the sky. She quickly cast levitation and managed to produce a gamma flare, which was nothing more than a really bright flare to be used at night to illuminate one's surroundings. It temporarily blinded the seven or so monsters, giving Ryo all the time he needed.  
  
The lavender-haired boy shot forward into the pack of monsters. He disappeared to the naked eye and for the next instant, moved too fast for anything human to see exactly what he was doing. Several well-placed slashes later, Ryo reappeared on the opposite side of the monster pack with his back to them. One by one, the monsters dissolved from the wounds inflicted upon them by the wielder of a holy blade.   
  
Ryo watched as his parents finished off the last of 'their' monsters and walked over to them. The blade on his mother's sword disappeared and his father's returned to its normal silver hue as he returned it to its sheath.   
  
Ryo suddenly tossed his sword carelessly into the air, never once glancing upward. The sword twirled numerous times, and eventually came under the law of gravity. Ryo leaned slightly to the left and the sword fell point down into the sheath across his back with an echoing *CHING*.   
  
Lina and Zel both clapped their hands, smiles wide on their faces.  
  
Kathy and Ryo blushed at the attention. "Mom! Dad! You're embarrassing us!" They nearly shouted in unison.   
  
"What's there to be embarrassed over? You two just basically killed fifteen monsters apiece and all by yourselves to boot! I'd say that's a great achievement for a couple of kids who just turned five!" Their mother explained.   
  
Though the twins treated the whole situation like an everyday event, they knew that their mother was right. Most kids their age were still not allowed to even touch weapons and learn magic. That's why Ryo and Katherine always thought their parents just plain out ruled!   
  
"I'm hungry..." Kathy mumbled as her stomach began to growl.   
  
Lina strode over and picked up her daughter. "Well that's something we'll have to fix, now isn't it?" She explained as Kathy found herself on her mother's shoulders, seeing as how Kathy was still a little on the short side.   
  
Ryo and his father looked at the two ladies in amusement.   
  
"Was mom like this before we were born?" Ryo asked.  
  
"She was most of the time. What was it your Uncle Sanjuro once called her....'The Enemy to anything edible'..." Zel trailed off.   
  
Ryo smiled and then heard his own stomach voice its protest. "Man dad, why couldn't I have taken after you instead of mom in the food category?" The boy asked.  
  
Zel grinned and started walking in the general direction his wife and daughter had taken. Ryo wasn't nearly as bad as his sister and mother, but he could still put away a few full course meals all by himself.   
  
"Luck of the draw Ryo, luck of the draw...." Zel trailed off.   
  
Ryo just shrugged and ran off to catch up with his sister, his father matching his pace easily.  
  
  
Later that night.....  
  
"That's MY turkey!!" Kathy shouted as she and her mother fought mercilessly over the scrumptious looking bird.   
  
Sparks seemed to fly between the family only at mealtime, but that was easily overlooked by everyone. Ryo decided he had seen enough for one night and did the one thing he knew he would get away with.   
  
He hastily took a knife and sliced the turkey in half. The two females shot him a death glare and his honed battle instincts made him reach for his sword on the back of his chair. Then they simply smiled and thanked him for solving the argument.   
  
As violent as she seemed, Lina would never strike her children without an EXTREMELY good reason. If they were possessed, then yes she would hurt them to break the spell, but otherwise she had no intentions of harming her babies.   
  
Everyone sat at the table for a good while talking about the past battles they had been in over a few pots of tea. Lina and Zel offered pointers, but rarely interfered with their children's battles unless it was life-threatening.   
  
Ryo had become a withdrawn figure, much like his father. Although Ryo was by far the better conversationalist, he was still shy around mass groups of people. He also possessed a rather unique sword, one that had belonged to a holy warrior by the name of Tapion.   
  
Ryo had rescued the guy from a hoard of trolls, but he had been too late to save his life. Seeing the potential of such a boy, Tapion entrusted Ryo with his sword as his show of gratitude. Ryo had been three and a half when he received the sword, which he had named Tapion after its previous owner.   
  
Ryo had become quite the swordsman and spell caster, learning everything he could from his parents. His personality fluctuated from one end of the spectrum to the other for unknown reasons. His parents had worried about him, but Ryo eventually got through that phase of adjusting and was back to his usual cool, calm, and collected self.   
  
Katherine was almost exactly like her mother; volatile to no end. She exhibited mood swings that came and went like the wind, but she was less destructive than her mother. Kathy carried a small, incredibly rare enchanted sword that sucked energy out of a being and gave it the wielder of the blade. Kathy had rarely used it for fear that she might kill someone with it. Against a monster however, it was an invaluable tool that replenished a fighter who had little power to spare.   
  
Kathy was strong, but by no means as strong as her brother in strength nor her mother in power. Yet her power and strength were growing by the day and soon she would rival all of them. Lina and Zel had kept a watchful eye on Kathy though, seeing as how Lina's power could have been passed to her. Needless to say, Lina didn't want her daughter to have to go through what she did.  
  
There hadn't been any conclusive evidence that she had a similar 'gift,' but there wasn't anything to deny that she didn't either.   
  
Lina sighed. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Lina thought to herself.   
  
The family soon retired for the evening. Lina paid for two rooms since the twins had agreed to let their parents have some time alone, which was becoming a rare thing for Lina and Zel. The twins had been sleeping in a separate room from their parents at inns for over a year now, and both Lina and Zel saw it as a godsend that their kids were so responsible at times like these.  
  
Late that night, Lina and Zel lie awake after a rather.....exhaustive evening. They were both grateful that Ryo had the foresight to get a room on the other end of the hall.   
  
  
"Zel...." Lina started.  
  
"Yeah..." He silently encouraged.  
  
"I was just wondering lately.....if you ever thought you would want more than just Ryo and Katherine...." Lina continued.   
  
"Are we going to have another kid Lina?" Zel asked, sitting straight up in bed.  
  
"No, I'm not pregnant. I was just thinking that my actually being able to conceive those two was an absolute miracle. I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to get pregnant again, so I was just wondering...." She trailed off.  
  
"I would be perfectly happy even if we never had another child. I love you Lina, and we DID get the twins after all. Sure it took us twenty years, but that just goes to show you that absolutely nothing is impossible. We originally thought that you would NEVER be able to bear children, yet you did. Have a little more faith in yourself Lina, your starting to take after me...." Zel trailed off, chuckling.   
  
Lina looked at him deviously. "Then why don't we back to work?" She asked.  
  
Zel's chuckle gave way to a hearty laugh. "You're insatiable!" He choked out amongst his laughing.  
  
  
"Yeah, and you know you love me for it!" Lina smiled as she pounced on her husband.  
  
As usual on a night like this, they got very little sleep.  
  
  
The next morning, Ryo and Katherine watched their mother appear from her room looking as smitten as a kitten, followed by a rather chipper father.   
  
"See, I told you that letting them have some time alone would put them in a better mood." He started, a smug grin spreading across his face.  
  
Katherine's only response was to stick out her tongue.   
  
Ryo grinned and messed with his sister's hair, then ran off to get some breakfast.   
  
Katherine's face suddenly went from happy to sad. Her brother was acting normal despite the nightmare that he had last night. She could remember quite clearly that he had never had these nightmares before he received that sword of his. The sword that was never more than a few meters from him. He even had it with him when he bathed!   
  
Though Katherine was worried for her brother, she knew he could handle it now. He had been depressed when he first got the sword, but he had learned to control whatever that sword was doing to him. Even after he had gained a significant measure of control, the nightmares still plagued him from time to time.   
  
"Holy sword, huh? Sounds like something else entirely. I don't know if I should tell mom and dad or not, but Ryo seems to be alright." She debated with herself.  
  
"If he starts getting depressed again, then I'll tell them. Until then brother, I'll have faith that you can beat this." She thought to herself.  
  
"Kathy, is anything wrong?" Zel asked his daughter as he silently watched her seem to brood over something.   
  
"Nothing dad, everything's fine!" She flashed her father a winning smile, but unfortunately, Zel didn't buy into it. He was far too observant to let something like that slide.   
  
Zel slowly kneeled down beside her. "Kathy, if you ever need to talk to me about something, don't hesitate. I won't tell your mother about this, but promise me that if things get out of hand that you'll come to us." He silently urged.  
  
Kathy looked shocked but nodded just the same. As her father walked away, she spoke up.   
  
"How did you know dad?" She asked.   
  
He grinned. "I'm able to read your mother perfectly sweetie, and she's the expert next to me on how to hide what you're feeling. Plus you don't usually brood, so I could guess that something was on your mind." He answered.  
  
Kathy smiled once more and leapt into her father's arms. "You're the best dad!" She nearly screamed. Her father smiled and set her on his shoulders, carrying her down to breakfast.  
  
  
  
5 years later....  
  
"I can't believe it! We finally get to meet everyone!" Kathy shouted happily.  
  
Ryo was grinning, thinking about meeting the former swordsman of light and testing himself against the master.   
  
Lina and Zel grinned as they made their way towards Saillune after yet another ten year stretch. They were eager to meet their old friends and see what had transpired in their absence.   
  
At their current pace, they would arrive in a few days. Everywhere they looked, they saw people constructing new homes and tending relatively new plots of land. While it most certainly meant that Saillune was recovering, the mere volume and numbers of the people was staggering.  
  
The family eventually made it to a town that had an inn and settled down for an afternoon of relaxation.   
  
Zel and Lina went to check out the local magic shop to cash in on some of Lina's homemade charms and amulets while Kathy went to a restaurant for a snack and then went off to soak in the inn's hot springs.  
  
  
  
Ryo occupied himself with walking through town, taking in his surroundings and checking out local merchants that seemed to have items that interested him.   
  
While he was purchasing a new whetstone to use in sharpening his sword, he heard a bit of commotion coming from the town square that was about thirty meters away from him. Deciding to investigate, he placed the new whetstone in the special case attached to the scabbard on his back and headed in that direction.   
  
  
  
"LET GO OF ME!!" The girl shouted. The three men holding her were currently above her on the scale of strength, but only because they were using enhanced magical items that drained her strength. She continued to struggle as the three of them dragged her away.  
  
"You freak! You don't belong among the rest of us! You and your people always think you're SO much better than us! Well we're going to show you just who's at the top of the food chain!" One of the men yelled.   
  
"If my parents or brother was here, you'd be feeling some pain! NOW PUT ME DOWN!!" She screamed. She hated having to go into towns like this with all the prejudice that was flying around. Her being an easy target at ten years of age certainly didn't help.   
  
Then something happened that no one saw coming.  
  
"The lady said to put her down, I suggest you listen." Someone said in a forceful tone across the courtyard.   
  
Every head turned to see a boy no more than ten or twelve years of age standing there, wearing a look of pure disgust and hatred. He had light blue eyes and lavender hair. He was wearing gray pants tucked into tan fighting boots with some kind of black belt. He wore a black undershirt and was wearing some type of lavender overcoat that only reached down to his midsection. He may not have spoken much, but his eyes spoke volumes of his intent.  
  
Any experienced fighter among the crowd could see that the boy was dead serious. Unfortunately, none of the three attacking the girl noticed.  
  
Instead, they burst out laughing.   
  
"And what do you plan on doing kid? Running home and crying to mommy?" They continued laughing and the boy slowly advanced, never faltering or showing any signs of fear. When he stood only about twenty feet from them, he spoke again.  
  
  
"The lady said to put her down. Don't make me repeat myself." He replied darkly.  
  
The group suddenly realized that the boy wasn't playing and simply dropped the young girl.   
  
"If it's a fight you want kid, then you've come to the right place!" The second one shouted.   
  
The boy looked at all three sizing them up.   
  
"No magic potential whatsoever, visible charms used to drain strength, no apparent backup......piece of cake." He thought to himself.   
  
  
  
  
The group brought out a few daggers and one had a small sword on his person.  
  
The boy scowled. "I think it's only fair that I warn you guys. You don't stand a chance against me." He stated.   
  
The men only snickered and lunged at him.   
  
In a flash, the boy caught the nearest man by the arm, and using his own momentum, threw him over his shoulder and into the side of a nearby building, leaving a deep imprint.  
  
The second was approaching fast. Using only one arm, the boy pivoted on the heel of his hand and turned slightly, delivering a maiming kick to the man's jaw and sending him through the crowd.  
  
The third he finished with a little showing off. He planted both hands in the ground after kicking the second, positioned his ankles on either side of the man's neck, pushed off the ground with arms flying over the man's head in an arc, and finally used that momentum and his legs to throw the man into the side of a building over twenty meters away.   
  
The boy landed with one knee on the ground, his fists clenched at either side of his body. He slowly rose and turned to survey his handiwork. Three clean knockouts without even breaking a sweat.  
  
"All too easy..." The boy thought aloud.  
  
In the space of a heartbeat, the crowd had seen the impossible. A ten year old boy defeating three fully grown men with no apparent effort!   
  
Everyone missed the ever present fact that the boy had never once gone for his sword.   
  
The boy slowly walked over the girl and offered her his hand.   
  
"Are you okay?" He asked, his scowl fading into a look of concern.   
  
The girl could do nothing but stare at the boy, utterly mesmerized by how handsome he was despite his age. She blushed, but took the offered hand and stood up.   
  
No one from the crowd could have said anything, but the silence was quickly broken.   
  
"ELLY!" A voice shouted from a ways off.   
  
"I'm over here big brother!" The girl shouted.  
  
"Elly?" The boy asked, a genuine look of confusion crossing his features.  
  
"Short for Eleanor..." The girl trailed off, blushing.  
  
  
  
A pre-teenager with light green hair burst through the crowd and raced for his little sister. The crowd quickly dispersed, recognizing who the young man was. He knelt down and embraced the smaller girl.   
  
"I came running when I heard guys talking about a fight, I'm sorry sis!" He apologized.   
  
Elly just hugged him back, apparently glad to have someone familiar to hold on to while she let out her stifled sobs of relief. Her older brother suddenly noticed the boy.   
  
"Who are you?" He asked, his voice bordering on hatred.  
  
"Don't yell at him Val! He saved me!" Elly shouted hastily. Val calmed down immediately.  
  
"I'm sorry.....I just reacted." He admitted to the two children.  
  
The boy had another look of confusion running across his face.   
  
  
"VAL? Oh man, I don't like where this is going. The only thing missing to prove my theory is..." His thought trailed off.  
  
"ELEANOR METALLIUM!!" A female voice roared through what was left of the crowd, revealing a blond woman with green eyes running towards the girl with a violet haired man right on her heels. The girl immediately left Val's arms and jumped towards the woman and man.  
  
"Well, there goes the ball game....." The boy thought to himself.  
  
"MOMMY! DADDY!" She shouted as her mother broke into tears.   
  
The scene was rather touching until the purple-haired man spotted the boy. The teenager immediately jumped in front of his father.   
  
"NO DAD! HE HELPED HER!" Val shouted.   
  
The purple man immediately calmed down, but saw that the boy had leaped back about ten feet, crouched into a defensive posture, and grabbed the hilt of his sword.  
  
"Well, you surely are on edge, now aren't you?" The man started.  
  
Filia hastily made her way in front of her husband. "There's no need for that young one, we won't harm you." She stated calmly.  
  
  
  
The boy simply took his hand off of his sword and slowly returned to a relaxed stance, although it was clear that his guard was still full on.   
  
"Thank you for saving our daughter from those imbeciles." The man stepped forward and offered his hand. "My name is Xellos, and I'm very grateful that you stepped in and helped her." He continued.  
  
The boy stepped down his defenses another notch and took the proffered hand in a firm shake.   
  
"Pleasure's mine." He stated simply.   
  
There was an awkward silence that was broken by the soft spoken young warrior.  
  
"They'll probably be back soon with a few reinforcements." The boy stated, noticing the men had dislodged themselves and disappeared.  
  
"I suggest that we disperse and go our separate ways." He calmly stated as he turned to walk away.  
  
Elly separated herself from her family and hastily grabbed the boy's wrist.  
  
"Wait! I don't even....know your name...." She said, blushing again.  
  
The boy turned and looked at her with his penetrating sapphire eyes, seeming to internally debate whether or not he should divulge such information.  
  
"My name.....is Ryo." He stated as he turned to leave.   
  
"I'm certain our paths will cross once more, until next time..." He said as a cloud of smoke engulfed him, causing even Xellos to lose track of the boy.   
  
When the smoke cleared, there wasn't a single trace that he had ever been there and not one of them had the faintest idea of which way he had gone.   
  
"Mom, Dad, we had better go like he said." Val spoke up.   
  
  
  
Xellos and Filia snapped out of their trance and started to move again, nearly dragging Elly with them.  
  
"What an absolute dream!" Elly thought as she couldn't help but think of her lavender-haired savior.   
  
  
Ryo crouched on the roof he had managed to get too before the smoke had cleared.  
  
"Man, I thought the great former-general of the Beastmaster would be able to keep track of me. Guess everyone around here has gotten slack in their training. No matter, I'll see them again when we get to Saillune." He thought  
  
"That girl, Elly.....she was kind of nice..." His thoughts took a different turn as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop on his way back to the inn for a restful night's sleep.  
  
He eventually got back to the inn just as his parents and sister walked through the front door. He joined them for dinner and he started sharpening his sword while they waited for the food to arrive.  
  
"So what did you do in town Ryo?" Lina asked.  
  
"Not much, just got a new whetstone for Tapion." He replied, holding up the item in question.   
  
"We heard that there was a fight somewhere in town, were you a part of it?" Zel asked.   
  
"Fight?" Ryo visibly twitched. "You mean I actually missed a FIGHT?!?" Ryo nearly yelled.   
  
Zel smiled and dropped the subject. Ryo always acted like that if he missed the possibility of getting into trouble. Either he was outraged at missing such an opportunity, or he was an incredible actor.   
  
Knowing his son, Zel figured it was a little bit of both.   
  
The family sat down to a nice dinner and retired for the evening. That night, Ryo dreamed of a giggling girl with shimmering blond hair and sparkling blue eyes.  
  
  
  
A few days later......  
  
"Welcome to Saillune kids!" Lina shouted.   
  
Ryo and Katherine could do nothing but stare at everything. There was just SO MUCH to look at!   
  
Lina and Zel had never even thought that things would be this well off only ten years after the city had been nearly leveled.   
  
They took in the sights on their way to the palace and introduced the twins to the culinary wonder known as soft serve ice cream! While Ryo and Katherine licked their huge cones, the family continued on their way to the royal palace.   
  
Lina and Zel decided to stop by Gourry and Sylphiel's place first and introduce their kids. When they got there though, they found the place deserted.   
  
"I wonder where they could be?" Lina thought.   
  
"They might be at the palace..." Zel ventured.   
  
"Maybe, but I know that we'll at least find either Amelia OR Sanjuro there. One of them always holds down the fort unless it's a matter of DIRE importance." Lina explained.   
  
Zel nodded. "Then we should just go straight to the palace and see what we can find out." He started and walked in that direction.  
  
His family followed him without question, and after seeing a few more of the sites on their way to the palace, they eventually arrived at the outer gates.  
  
  
  
"We're here to request an audience with Her majesty Queen Amelia." Zel began.  
  
"The Queen is entertaining guests right now and isn't to be disturbed for any reason." The guard answered.  
  
"Not even to greet the infamous Lina Inverse Greywords?" Lina asked, stepping forward.   
  
Something immediately clicked in the guard's mind and he realized what a mistake he had made.   
  
"I...I apologize Miss Greywords, I will relay to the Queen that you are here immediately." The guard hastily left.  
  
"I wish I got that kind of recognition..." Zel grumbled.   
  
"How do you expect to get it if you always hide behind that mask and stay in the shadows whenever you visit?" Lina asked.  
  
Zel raised an eyebrow. "That's a very good point..." Zel answered as he removed his hood and mask, letting the rest of the guards have a rare glance at his face.   
  
Kathy was holding onto her mother's leg, nervous about being in such a big and fancy place.   
  
  
  
The guard eventually returned.  
  
"The queen humbly requests your family's presence. We'll take you to her immediately." He began.  
  
"Let's go gang!" Lina echoed.  
  
The guard escorted the family through the castle and soon came upon a room that clearly had a crowd within its doors. The guard bowed and returned to his post, leaving the Greywords family to sweat bullets.   
  
They waited for about five minutes before Kathy took charge.  
  
"Enough moping around! Let's go on in and introduce ourselves! What do you say brother?" Kathy asked, showing more enthusiasm.  
  
"When the time to perform is present, the time to prepare is past..." He replied as he slowly walked forward and joined his sister.  
  
"Truer words were never spoken...." Zel added and grasped Lina's hand.   
  
His wife smiled in return and they moved in front of their children to enter the room first.  
  
  
"Now then, no more talk of business everyone. We're here to have fun and take a load off for a few days!" Amelia chided softly as Kethry began talking about the conference again.   
  
Everyone's attention was suddenly turned towards the opening doors, even though they all had a rough idea of who would be coming through them.   
  
"HI EVERYONE!" Lina shouted.   
  
Smiles spread across the faces of everyone present as they watched Lina and Zel enter the room.   
  
As fate would have it, the Metallium family was seated closest to the door.  
  
"How's everyone been for the past ten years?" Lina continued.  
  
"Just fine!" Amelia volunteered.  
  
"Don't you have someone to introduce to us?" Filia inquired, eager to finally meet the children of Lina and Zelgadiss.   
  
"Okay Filia, since you're so impatient....." Lina trailed off.  
  
  
"This is Kathy...." Zel started, lightly pushing the young girl forward.   
  
Kathy was flushed, but she quickly bowed and spoke. "Nice to meet all of you." She stated in an almost timid fashion.  
  
Kathy stepped to the side to let her brother through.  
  
"And this is....." Lina started, but was rather abruptly cut off by a shrill cry that suddenly came from down at the other end of the table.  
  
"YOU?!!?" Elly could have fainted right then and there.  
  
Ryo turned and grinned smugly.  
  
"I said we would meet again, now didn't I?" He replied.   
  
Several questioning gazes were instantly thrown his way, mostly by Xellos, Filia, and Val.   
  
Elly on the other hand was positively swooning.  
  
Ryo noticed his parents giving him a couple of hard stares before they spoke......in unison.   
  
"Explain." They commanded.  
  
Ryo never faltered. "While we were in the town two days ago where you heard about the fight, I stepped in on behalf of Filia and Xello's daughter and stopped three guys from man-handling her into the middle of next week." He explained.   
  
Filia was shocked into numbness and Xellos, for once, had his eyes as wide as saucers and his jaw hanging freely. Val grinned at how sly the boy was in handling his parents.  
  
"That's right!" Elly shouted. "Those men were going to kidnap me and beat me to a bloody pulp, but Ryo saved me!" She continued, her hands on her chest.  
  
"Why do I not like the way she's looking at me?" Ryo absently thought.   
  
Finally, Xellos managed to return to reality.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us that you were the son of Lina and Zelgadiss?" He asked.  
  
Ryo smirked. "Because you never asked." He hastily replied before Xellos could withdraw his statement.   
  
"ANYWAY!" Lina shouted. "This is Ryo....." She finished.   
  
The next few minutes were pure chaos as Ryo and Kathy were swept up in a tornado of women trying to get a 'good look' at them.   
  
Their parents just watched and beamed with pride.   
  
It was a new experience for the two kids, seeing as how their parents never smothered them with affection. Yet Lina and Zel would always make sure that their children knew that they loved them with all their hearts and would readily sacrifice all that they possessed for the two of them if necessary.  
  
After a nervous fifteen minutes of so, the newcomers were finally allowed to have a seat.   
  
"You can sit here Ryo!" Elly pointed, and the open seat she was pointing to was right beside her.   
  
Ryo quickly glanced around the room. Kathy had just taken the only remaining open seat other than the one in question, next to Val.  
  
Ryo turned back to Elly, carefully glancing her over. He had never had anyone openly show feelings for him the way that Elly was doing at that moment. He slowly smiled.  
  
"Thanks Elly." He replied as he pulled out the chair and placed his sword across the back of the chair. He sat down and scooted the chair closer to the table.   
  
"Mommy says that you shouldn't bring weapons to the table..." Ely trailed off.  
  
Ryo turned his head back in her direction. "That's just Tapion, I'm never more than a few meters from him at any given time." Ryo gently explained.  
  
"So your sword has a name young Ryo?" Xellos asked, perplexed at how his daughter could already be infatuated with a boy she had only met once before.  
  
"I named it after the previous owner, a man I saved back when I was only about three and a half. He passed the sword to me as a sign of gratitude and I've had it with me ever since." Ryo explained, leaving out the fact that Tapion was indeed a holy sword. It was much like the Blessed Blade of Flagoon, but immeasurably stronger. Ryo knew about that from first hand experience.   
  
"Tapion.....Tapion.......where have I heard that name before?" Xellos thought to himself.   
  
A few servants arrived to take Ryo and Kathy's orders for lunch, leaving them some tea to sip until their food came.   
  
Val seemed interested in Kathy and made small talk until her food came, then he was lucky if he got a word in edgewise. The look of shock he wore said it all.  
  
Lunch eventually ended and everyone decided to go their separate ways for a little recreation.   
  
The adults headed out to the terrace, but not before Lina turned to her children.  
  
"Ryo and Katherine Greywords! If you blow up, carve up, or stir up any more than a few cinder blocks, then you are going to answer to me! Understand?" She asked in a rather unsettling tone.  
  
Katherine and even Ryo meekly nodded as they headed towards the garden with the rest of the kids, Ryo strapping his sword onto his back as he left.   
  
Zel looked at Lina cautiously. "You STILL scare me when you talk like that..." He stated.   
  
His wife wickedly grinned at him. "You're just lucky that I'm on your side darling, otherwise you'd be toast......burned toast...." Lina's wicked grin melted into a playful one as Zel smiled back.  
  
"I have no doubts...." He replied as they went to join their old friends for what was to be a long 'catching-up' session.   
  
  
  
"What's life on the road like?" Val asked Kathy.  
  
"It's pretty neat actually. We get to fight monsters all the time and learn fun magic spells too!" Kathy explained.   
  
Val grinned. "From what mom and dad tell me about your parents, that doesn't surprise me that much. By the way, what's up with your brother, he's so serious all the time..." Val started.  
  
Kathy looked ahead at her brother, who was practicing his swordsmanship in front of a small crowd that consisted of all the kids at lunch.   
  
"He takes after dad a lot in that aspect. Strange thing is.....under all that bravado, he's just like the rest of us. You just have to find a way to get past all of his defenses, then he's your friend for life.   
  
Val suddenly frowned as he spotted Kain and Gabriel return from inside with their swords, eager to give Ryo a run for his money.   
  
"Do you think it's wise to let your brother fight them with real blades for the first time?" Val asked.  
  
"They're no threat to him.....he's just humoring them. His exercise was bait to all who would bite and apparently he's got two big fish to tackle now." Kathy replied, her face breaking into a confident grin.  
  
"Actually, they the ones that need to worry. My brother was slaying monsters in mass numbers with that same sword five years ago. If anything, you should warn them!" Kathy continued.   
  
  
Gabriel stepped up towards Ryo, a wide grin on his face.   
  
"So, you think you can keep up little guy?" He asked.   
  
Ryo frowned. "I'll manage." He shot back.   
  
For a moment, Gabriel faltered. He looked into Ryo's sapphire eyes and could swear that he saw a man staring back at him. Eyes like that coming from a person so young could only mean that he was more mature than anyone had currently given him credit for. It could also mean that he had seen things normal kids his age were never meant to see, but there was no way to know which was true.   
  
Gabriel drew his sword and prepared himself for what would hopefully be a decent spar. The boy's skills were magnificent, but how experienced he was in combat, only his family knew. Gabriel took up the traditional stance of his father and prepared to leap at the boy.  
  
Ryo merely reached up and grabbed the hilt of his sword, making no move to draw it.   
  
"You going to draw your sword or are you just going to wait?" Gabriel asked.  
  
"Let's find out...." Ryo replied.  
  
Gabriel took that as his cue to charge, and charge he did.  
  
Ryo kicked the scabbard upward with his elbow and brought the sword out in the blink of an eye and met Gabriel head on.  
  
The two swords met in a clash of metal and both of the fighters entered a contest of strength, trying to throw the other back and gain an advantage.  
  
Ryo was barely exerting himself, but it was clear that Gabriel was almost to the struggling point. Ryo didn't grin or smirk in any way at the small victory he was about to claim. If anything, he focused himself even more.  
  
Gabriel eventually was thrown backwards and landed on his back, but he quickly leapt to his feet as Ryo charged him, his sword poised at his right side for a strike.   
  
Gabriel got up and started into a barrage of swings and slashes. Each and every attempt was expertly parried by Ryo with his sword. The boy eventually disarmed Gabriel a few minutes later, sending his sword into the air and catching it in his other hand.   
  
"I believe this round belongs to me." Ryo stated as he threw Gabriel's sword into the ground point first. The sword remained upright as Gabriel uprooted it and returned it to its sheath.   
  
"That was.....utterly incredible. How did you become so skilled?" Gabriel asked.   
  
Ryo looked at him and grinned. "When you're trained by one of the best and have to exercise your skills on a daily basis in battle, you learn real quick what works and what doesn't." Ryo explained.   
  
"Do you think you could give me a few pointers?" Gabriel asked.   
  
Ryo's grin disappeared, but he didn't appear angry. Ryo silently brooded over the problem before answering.   
  
"Catch me later on that one." He replied.   
  
Gabriel wasn't disappointed by any means. "Sure, now I think Kain wants to get his butt kicked." Gabriel stated.   
  
Ryo's head shot in Kain's direction, and the young man stepped forward.   
  
Kain was by no means as dense as his father and knew that this fight would be as tough as it had seemed. "Man, this kid didn't even break a sweat against Gabriel. It usually takes us a good hour to declare a victor." Kain thought to himself.   
  
It was at this point that another audience began watching that nobody noticed.  
  
Ryo started out the fight the same way, waiting for his opponent to move first.  
  
Kain didn't disappoint him. Charging Ryo, he slashed right about where Ryo's chest would have been if the boy hadn't changed strategies and let himself fall to the ground!   
  
Kain flipped his sword around and tried to stab at the grounded Ryo, but Ryo merely kicked the blade away with his booted feet before performing a few aerial flips and landed neatly.   
  
Ryo landed about twenty feet from Kain, sword at the ready. Kain crouched into defensive posture and waited for Ryo to strike this time.   
  
Ryo leapt forward, covering the distance between them in a single bound, bringing Tapion down on Kain's blade in a crushing blow.   
  
Kain, caught off guard by the sudden lack of space between himself and his opponent, buckled under the force of the impact and was forced onto one knee. Kain was strong, but he was absolutely baffled at how this ten-year child was beating him in a competition of strength when he was at least a decade his elder!   
  
Ryo sprang back, satisfied that Kain was in enough shock to throw him off for a while. The battle after that was rather short, consisting merely of Kain being outmatched in almost every category by the far more battle-experienced Ryo.   
  
When Kain was finally disarmed and at sword-point, the entire group heard a sound above them.   
  
All heads turned to the terrace above their position and found their parents clapping!   
  
  
"Well done Ryo!" Lina shouted.   
  
"I must say that I'm impressed." Gourry echoed.   
  
Every adult seemed to have something to say as Kain and Gabriel silently fumed at their respective defeats.  
  
Ryo looked down, sheathed his sword, and slowly walked away.   
  
Everyone was struck dumb except for Elly, who got up from her seat and ran after him.   
  
"Seems little sister has a certain affinity for your brother..." Val thought aloud next to Kathy.  
  
The parents had quickly gone back to their talking, seeing as how they had probably embarrassed Ryo to no end.   
  
  
  
"RYO!" Elly shouted, finally about to catch up to the lavender-haired boy.  
  
"What is it?" He asked coldly.   
  
"Why did you leave like that, they were only paying you a compliment." Elly started.   
  
"I didn't do that for recognition of my skills. I did that so I could test myself against another. I didn't expect my parents and everyone else to actually be paying attention to the fight." He replied.  
  
"If you don't do this to get recognized, then why do you do it?" Elly asked, slightly perplexed at his behavior.  
  
"Painful memories......and a promise." Ryo answered quietly.  
  
"What memory?" Elly prodded.   
  
"Perhaps I'll tell you someday.....until then it's my cross that I must bear alone." Ryo replied, smiling slightly at Elly.  
  
Elly managed a smile of her own, yet now she wondered what cross he could possibly be talking about.   
  
"What is it that you're hiding?" She thought to herself.   
  
Ryo turned and walked away so that he could have some time alone.   
  
  
  
Kathy was sitting in the flower garden with Val, looking at the collection that the groundskeeper had amassed for the royal family.   
  
"Are you as experienced as your brother?" Val continued, trying to learn more about the Greywords twins.  
  
"Give or take.....I'm a little more magic-inclined than Ryo, but he's definitely a better all-around fighter than I am." She answered, picking a multitude of colors from the wide variety in front of her.   
  
"What spells can you cast?" Val continued.   
  
"Pretty much everything from the white and Shaman bases, but when I get older, mom will teach me all her black magic attacks as well!" She answered with more enthusiastically.   
  
"I can't wait to start, but mom says it'll make me stay in a ten year old body for at least another thirty or forty years." She replied.   
  
"Better listen to her, after all she's the sorcery genius!" He continued, grinning.  
  
Kathy smiled. She didn't even know Val that well and she already liked him. He was rather calm and collected like her brother, but his sense of humor was a lot better than Ryo's and his charming nature only served to attract her to him like a magnet.   
  
  
Nearby, a dark shadow loomed over the happy reunion, completely unnoticed by all except one individual.  
  
"Was it wise to follow him? Perhaps not, but now we have something to use against him." The being in question thought.   
  
"We've overstepped our bounds a bit, but it was necessary in order to keep track of him. After all, that sword is the key and he doesn't even have a clue as to what he is really carrying. Could this situation get any better?" The being continued as it observed the red-headed girl in the flower garden with the young green-haired boy.   
  
"Finally, our chance has come. And this time, we will emerge the victors." It thought before it dissolved once again into darkness, preparing to strike.  
  
  
  
  
Author's notes: Wow! I'm glad I got some reviews! Now here is the continuation people have asked for. I'd appreciate further reviews, whether they are good or bad. Anybody can feel free to e-mail me at: alex_001@hotmail.com   
  
I have another section planned, but it's winding down in a hurry unless I get some reader input and ideas on where to take this little mini-series!  
Hope everyone gives me some input. Until next chapter faithful readers!  
  
  
  
Next time on Life Goes On:   
  
Some of the gang is kidnapped by a new enemy as Ryo finally decides to open up to someone! (Can you guess who?) The remaining gang springs into action and begin to race after their friends and family, but where do they go? Secrets are revealed and with Ryo as their only guide, the gang sets out for the deepest realms of the uncharted territories. What dangers await them in the places that not even the Lords of Darkness have set foot before?   
  
Find out next time! 


End file.
